After 99 days on strike, unionized Republic Services garbage collectors in Cumming reached an agreement with management on Wednesday afternoon that ended a nationwide strike by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
“These amazing Teamsters just ratified a new […] contract with significant gains, including wage increases, increased holiday pay, extra weeks vacation and more,” Teamsters Local 728 posted on its Facebook page.
Teamsters spokesman Matthew McQuaid said in an email that the Cumming workers obtained a 17% wage increase over the new four-year contract, with a 7% increase in the first year, a $1,000 signing bonus, additional vacation days, and increased paternity leave. Each unionized Republic Services shop negotiated its own contract with the company.
Republic Services said in a statement that it reached a four-year agreement with the Cumming garbage collectors “that benefits our employees, our customers and our company,” adding that it was not disclosing any details.
Thirty-three unionized Republic Services workers walked off the job in Cumming at 2 a.m. on July 8, joining a national strike over stalled contract negotiations around pay, unsafe working conditions and unfair labor practices. Negotiations between the union and the company broke down in March, and resumed in mid-July, as the strike entered its second week.
According to a Teamsters statement, unionized Republic Services workers across the country have won raises of up to 46% over the life of their new contracts, along with stronger labor protections, improved work rules, and benefits including union health insurance that will save them hundreds of dollars per month.
The Cumming deal resolves the Teamsters’ last outstanding contract dispute with Republic Services at striking locations across the country. Last month, they reached a deal in Boston that followed an August deal in Chicago, along with new contracts at Republic Services locations in Manteca, California and Thurston County, Washington.
At its height, nearly 2,000 sanitation workers went on strike at Republic Services locations in eight states. “Despite Republic’s moral bankruptcy, our members fought back and made this greedy company regret every single day of this strike,” said Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Fred Zuckerman in a statement.
Republic Services disclosed to shareholders that it expected labor disruptions to cost from $25 million to $50 million by year-end in a July 29 Form 8-K filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. The company anticipates 2025 revenue of about $16.7 billion and $2.1 billion in profit.
“Republic’s greed and arrogance were no match for Teamsters’ strength and solidarity,” said
Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien in a statement. “They stood tall, fought back, and brought this corporate giant to its knees. Every waste worker in America is now stronger because of the Republic Teamsters’ courage, conviction, and willingness to take on this fight.”
Earlier in October, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) publicly weighed in on the Cumming strike, adding pressure on the company to make a deal. “One day our society will come to respect the sanitation worker if it is to survive,” he said in a statement. “The person who picks up our garbage, in the final analysis, is as significant as the physician, for if he doesn’t do his job, diseases are rampant.”
You don’t like you job – get another one.
Sick and tired of unions bs