Republic Services and Teamsters union officials have scheduled a negotiation session Monday in hopes of resolving a six-day strike that has hampered trash pickups across Stockton and other Northern California cities.
Republic, a garbage hauler that serves Stockton and Lathrop, said the negotiations come as it has assigned more employees to help catch up on the backlog of trash collection.
“We are asking all residents to leave their containers out as we work hard to resume regular service,” Republic told Stocktonia on Friday.
The strike involves workers represented by Teamsters Local 439 at Republic’s Forward Landfill in Manteca. But other employees have honored the picket lines, delaying trash pickup in multiple cities.
As of Sunday, Republic had not caught up on all of its collection routes. The Phoenix-based company’s workers were on the job over the weekend handling trash that normally would be fetched on Thursdays. That process, Stockton city officials said, was expected to continue into Monday.
Anyone whose trash had not been removed on their normal Tuesday or Wednesday pickup days was being urged to phone the company at (209) 466-3604 for service.
In a move that might be especially troubling for the environmentally conscious, Republic Services said it is not picking up recyclables or green waste, what it calls “organics.”
The strike has certainly caught the attention of City Hall. Stockton issued a statement via social media Saturday in which it blamed Republic Services for not giving the city notice of the impending strike. The lack of advance warning “prevented an opportunity for the City of Stockton to provide a strategic response for the collection delay,” the statement said.
Mayor Christina Fugazi and interim City Manager Steve Colangelo spoke with Republic Services officials over the weekend to try to accelerate the company’s efforts to clear the backlog of trash pickups.
“Let me reassure you, we are going to do whatever is necessary to keep Stockton clean while the Republic Services labor negotiations reach a conclusion,” Fugazi said in a statement.
Vice Mayor Jason Lee issued his own statement, saying he’s requested a full report to be presented at the next City Council meeting as to why the city was not informed of the strike.
Residents, meanwhile, replying to Lee’s post complained about refuse that has not been removed. Last week, Republic issued a schedule showing Tuesday trash would be picked up Thursday.
One Facebook user, Patricia Costilla Cherry, wrote that her Tuesday trash had still not been picked up as of Sunday morning. Regina Riley Peters also said the containers for Tuesday’s trash pickup were still sitting by the curb in her neighborhood.
Leslie Asfour said her Tuesday trash had indeed been picked up – but it took until Saturday. And Delja Campbell- Hancock said her Friday trash was still awaiting removal as of Monday morning.