Teamsters Say They'll Keep Working at Allied Waste
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Workers represented by the Teamsters at Allied Waste's operations in the Mahoning Valley planned to report to work today without a new collective bargaining agreement, but a labor representative said that talks are expected to continue.
"We're going to continue to bargain in good faith and have meetings set up in November," said Ralph "Sam" Cook, secretary-treasurer of the Teamsters Local 377, which represents about 80 employees at Republic Services/Allied Waste operations in the Valley.
"Our members are going to work tonight," Cook told The Business Journal Wednesday. The contract expired at midnight.
Douglas Dunn, general manager of Allied Waste's operations here, assured customers that there would be no disruption in waste pickup services and that the company would continue to work with the Teamsters to reach a new agreement.
"We've have a very good relationship and have been able to work things through with Local 377," he said. "We are proud of the spirit of teamwork that exists in Youngstown."
The sticking point between labor and management in this case, Dunn noted, is the company's desire to move its contributions from the Central States Pension Fund to a 401(k) plan that would be set up for its hourly workers. Salaried employees have the same plan, he added.
Doing so is critical to ensure stable retirement for employees of Allied Waste, Dunn said, because executives have testified that the Central States fund would be insolvent in 10 years.
"These men and women work extremely hard every day, and this is something that we absolutely owe our people – to be able to retire and have a solid dependable plan," he said.
The issue isn't over wages, Dunn emphasized, noting that Allied Waste's sanitation drivers and hourly employees enjoy average wages of $50,000 a year, and some with enough seniority earn as much as $80,000 annually.
Instead, the company believes contributing more money into a fund that is expected to collapse in a decade isn't responsible, and that these contributions should be vested into plans that are more solvent.
About 20 cents of every dollar contributed to Republic employees goes for their benefits, Dunn said. As part of its proposal, Allied Waste would immediately contribute vested lump sums into the 401(k) on behalf of its employees. In some cases, those amounts could exceed $40,000.
He said companies such as UPS and competitor Waste Management Services have withdrawn from the Central States fund with the support of the Teamsters.
"We're continuing to struggle over one point," Dunn said.
A press release issued by Allied Waste yesterday morning said that should the contract expire, "Local 377 could strike at any time."
But those options aren't even on the table, stressed Local 377's Cook.
"I don't understand why the company put this press release out," Cook said. "At our meeting last week, the company gave us their economic proposal, and we were a little surprised because we still had some noneconomic issues left to resolve."
Negotiations on the economics package were set for this month, he said. The package includes health care, wages and pension benefits.
"As far as the pension goes, now they want the members to contribute 3% to a 401(k) and they match 3%," Cook said. However, the company couldn't guarantee that the employees' 401(k) would be there when the employee retires, he said. "They can't guarantee anything."
The union expects to get back to the table sometime this month, Cook said, and members would continue to go to work.
The previous contract, Cook noted, expired Oct. 31, 2009, and the current contract wasn't settled until February 2011. And, he said the company has resorted in the past to locking out employees during contract disputes.
"In Evansville, Ind., they locked out about 80 workers and brought in replacement workers," Cook said. "I hope they don't plan on doing that to our members because our members are going to work tonight."
Cook remains optimistic that an agreement between labor and management is likely.
"We're going to continue to bargain in good faith and we'll reach an agreement down the road," he said.
Copyright 2012 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.