Pact reached in garbage dispute

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jul 27, 2007 | by Chris MetinkoSTAFF

OAKLAND -- After nine hours of negotiation Thursday night, the 25- day-old East Bay garbage lockout has come to an end. Drivers could be back on the job Monday.

"I am extremely pleased to announce that we have reached an agreement on all outstanding issues," said Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums after he emerged from the negotiations around 11 p.m. Thursday.

Waste Management of Alameda County locked out Teamsters Local 70 - - which represents 481 drivers -- July 2.

Members of Local 70 are set to vote Saturday on ratifying the contract. Meanwhile, members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Workers Union Local 6, who were honoring Local 70's picket line, will return to work today. Members of Machinists Local 1546, who were honoring the picket line but are in the middle of their own contract discussions, will return to the bargaining table today.

Details of the contract were not released last night. A federal gag order remains in place prohibiting discussion of negotiations until after the ratification vote Saturday.

Thursday's announcement brings to an end a series of eight federal mediation sessions that began last week between the two parties, federal mediator Jerry Allen and Dellums.

"The mayor was extremely, extremely helpful in resolving this," Allen said.

That sentiment was echoed by both parties, who said Dellums played a key role in coming to a contract agreement.

The continuing talks were not enough to temper the anger of one Castro Valley customer, retired librarian Cindy Simons, who filed suit against Waste Management of Alameda County on Thursday.

Prompted by three weeks of missed trash collection and accumulating containers of rotting garbage, the class-action complaint was filed on Simon's behalf in Alameda County Superior Court and seeks to force Waste Management to repay customers for missed service during the labor dispute. Compensation and damages also are demanded.

The proposed class of plaintiffs includes thousands of Waste Management customers in Alameda County cities and unincorporated areas. They paid quarterly collection bills but didn't receive service.

"It's been unhealthful," said Simons, who is hoping Waste Management's garbage collectors make their regular pickup today, because she's hosting a 40-person wedding reception Saturday night.

Company spokeswoman Monica Devincinzi said Waste Management officials had not yet seen the suit and could not comment. However, she reiterated the company's promise to credit customers for services that were paid for but not received as a result of the labor dispute.

The lawsuit is being handled by the San Francisco law firm Andrus Liberty & Anderson.

The lockout affected about 200,000 Waste Management of Alameda County customers in Oakland, Emeryville, San Ramon, Livermore, Albany, Hayward, Newark, Castro Valley and Oro Loma sanitary districts and some unincorporated areas. Many areas have complained of scattered trash collections since the lockout began, despite the company's reassurance that it is back up to full speed with replacement workers.

Nowhere has anger over missed pickups been more vocal than in Oakland. City officials say they have received more than 3,000 complaints since the lockout began.

Those complaints led the city to ask an Alameda County Superior Court judge to make a court order compelling the garbage hauler to pick up trash in the city. Judge Richard Keller issued that injunction last week and ruled this week that there is sufficient evidence to hold a contempt-of-court hearing on allegations that Waste Management of Alameda County is not complying with an order to pick up the city's trash. The hearing is scheduled for Aug. 3.

Despite the unhappiness of the customer who filed suit Thursday, the Castro Valley Sanitary District, which contracts with Waste Management on behalf of 16,000 residential and business customers, said the company's local service is improving.

The district has delayed plans to call in a supplemental trash hauler, General Manager Roland Williams said Thursday. Waste Management has promised to add more drivers and put in more hours to clean up debris throughout town by Saturday afternoon, he added.

On Monday, district administrators will decide whether service is satisfactory or whether another company should be brought in to collect garbage, yard waste and recyclables. If so, the district plans to send Waste Management the bill for the supplemental trash hauler.