Over 1,900 Southern California Sanitation Workers Ratify New Contract With Republic Services
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters announced on October 23 that more than 1,900 sanitation workers across Southern California have ratified a new contract with waste hauler Republic Services. The workers are represented by Teamsters Local 396, which provides trash and recycling services throughout Southern California, including Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties in California.
Teamsters General President Sean M. O'Brien said rank-and-file members stood together in bargaining and negotiated a contract that sets the standard for the waste industry. He added that hundreds more Republic Services Teamsters across the country are bargaining new contracts this year and that the union's push for strong contracts in the industry is not finished.
Victor Mineros, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 396 and Director of the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division, said members should be proud of winning a strong contract and called the victory a start, noting that the local still has work ahead to bargain strong contracts for the rest of its members in the sanitation industry. More than 1,400 waste workers at other companies represented by Local 396 continue to negotiate new agreements, according to the union.
Jeremie Murray, a driver at Republic Services, said the workers won the contract by standing together across all worksites and classifications.
Republic Services is the second-largest waste company in North America and reported $16.6 billion in revenue last year. Founded in 1903, the Teamsters represent 1.3 million people in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：Republic Services 的垃圾清运车（资料图）。Epolk 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: A Republic Services waste collection truck (file photo). Photo by Epolk, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
