Sanitation Workers Struggle in the East Bay

By Lacei Amodei
(from pslweb.org)

Over 500 union sanitation workers were unexpectedly locked out of work July 2 in Alameda County. The lockout follows months of negotiations between the union and management of the wealthy Waste Management Inc.

The corporation pledged it would not lock out the workers in the most recent bargaining session. But days later, Waste Management went back on its promise. The union sanitation workers are members of the Teamsters Local 70.

In response, the workers have held picket lines and a major rally on July 11, outside Waste Management’s transfer station in San Leandro.

Waste Management has been trying to undermine the strength and unity of several unions that represent Waste Management workers, including the Machinists Local 1546 and International Longshoreman and Warehouse Union Local 6. The corporation has fought hard to limit the unions’ right to strike after Local 70 was locked out. Yet, the Machinists and ILWU members have openly stated their solidarity with the locked out workers and were represented in numbers at the July 11 rally.

As the lockout continues, rotting trash piles up in the East Bay communities served by the sanitation workers: Albany, Emeryville, Oakland, Hayward, Newark, Livermore, the Castro Valley Sanitary District, Oro Loma Sanitary District in parts of San Leandro and San Lorenzo, San Ramon and unincorporated Alameda County.

The garbage pile-up is due to the incompetence and inability of “replacement workers”—scabs—to follow the garbage pick-up route.

Waste management itself has admitted to the poor work done by the scabs. It has asserted feebly they are gradually improving as they get more practice. However, the company’s recycling and composting programs have been scrapped altogether.

The unsanitary conditions in the affected areas point to Waste Management’s utter disregard for community safety. The company is willing to gamble with the people’s health so that it can attack the sanitation workers’ union. A feature article in the July 12 San Francisco Chronicle demonstrated how scab drivers were picking up trash in the wealthy communities in the Oakland Hills while ignoring the poor and predominately Black and Latino communities in West Oakland, East Oakland and Fruitvale

Local government has stepped into the labor dispute against Waste Management. The Alameda County Board of Supervisors, San Leandro Mayor Tony Santos, and other local government officials from Hayward and Berkeley have spoken publicly against the lockout. And on July 12 the city of Oakland filed suit in Alameda County Superior Court calling on Waste Management to honor their contract by picking up all of the trash Local media outlets are dedicating much coverage to the garbage workers struggle. Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums condemned Waste Management for putting the East Bay at a clear health, welfare and safety risk.

Waste Management has displayed a high level of arrogance and hypocrisy in its aggressive offensive against the union workers. It claims that it locked out the workers defensively to thwart a strike, which Waste Management said would endanger the community’s safety.

Waste Management is the clear aggressor in this struggle. It is keeping the workers from collecting trash, endangering the community and attempting to bust up union solidarity—all to attack the previous gains won by the workers.

Local 70 will be holding 24-hour picket lines at several Waste Management locations. Community support for the workers’ struggle is necessary at this time.

Community supporters can adopt a picket line by calling 510-632-4242, extension 222