Yesterday trash haulers walked off the job in King and Snohomish counties affecting about one million Waste Management customers. The union had been working without a contract since April 1st. The company made its final offer on April 2nd, and since then hasn’t offered any substantive changes to its proposal. The work stoppage is intended to force Waste Management back to the bargaining table. After reading a Seattle Times article about the strike, I have a few observations:
Interesting timing, going on strike the day before Earth Day. Was that by design, or should the union have been more symbolic and waited until today to walk off the job? Perhaps the strike will be a good thing in that mounds of uncollected garbage might make us think of better ways to reduce the solid waste stream. Other than separating out the glass, cans, plastic, and other recyclable items, I haven’t altered my behavior to help the problem. I buy food and consumer items, eat the food, put the recyclables in the bin, and toss the packaging and food waste in the trash can. Not much help from me.
Waste Management also services Bremerton and much of Kitsap County. Will our union drivers, who do a great job by the way, be going on strike anytime soon? Likely the outcome of the King-Snohomish work stoppage will determine what the Teamsters local in Kitsap does when its contract is up for negotiation.
A company spokesperson said there will be double collection next week for customers whose garbage isn’t collected due to the strike. That sounds good, but how many weeks can families last before their 32- or 64-gallon Waste Management container is filled to overflowing? This looks like a windfall for Lowe’s, Home Depot, and other retailers as people head out to the home improvement stores to buy an extra trash can or two.
In a little over 24 hours since the article was posted on the Seattle Times web site, more than 660 comments have been posted. 660! Granted, Seattle Times online readers are computer savvy and love to comment on newsworthy subjects (Amanda Knox trial, last fall’s cop killings, any article on raising taxes, and so on). But this has to be a record. Does anyone read all, or even most, of the comments? My quick scan of them found more readers saying the union is making a mistake than the other way around.
I’m not for or against this union. Generally, in the 20th century I think unions helped American workers negotiate benefits they might not have gotten otherwise. But now I think in some cases unions prevent companies from being competitive. And government unions drive up the cost of government, exacerbating the state’s deficit. Still the garbage haulers who are on strike need to provide for their families. The federal government may say inflation was less than 1 percent last year, but that’s not my experience. As an example, today I took Pi to the vet for a checkup. The office visit cost $46, up 4.5 percent from last time, which was less than a year ago. When you consider the cost of food, health care, utilities, tuition, and other household budget items, it’s not surprising that the Teamsters are ignoring the sentiments expressed in many of the article’s comments.
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