Bargaining between striking sanitation workers and the waste management giant they work for have ended in an impasse, as the company asks a federal judge to intervene to stop allegedly criminal negotiating tactics.

Members of the Teamsters Local 25 have been off the job since July 1 when their contract expired, and despite several rounds of negotiations, some in the presence of a federal mediator, the latest talks held Tuesday went 12 hours without reaching a conclusion other than that the strike will go on.

“As I told Republic weeks ago, Local 25 will continue the strike until Republic agrees to pay the same wages and benefits enjoyed by our members who work for Capitol and Star. That’s why we are willing to meet every day for as long as it takes to get our members what they deserve,” Teamsters Local 25 President Tom Mari said in a statement.

According to the company, the talks ended without a deal because the union is “unwilling to compromise on their demands” around health insurance and pay.

Republic Services says that they have offered the striking workers a wage that would see their pay move “higher than our local competitors,” but the two sides seem to disagree on who is failing to argue in good faith.

The union says that at the end of Tuesday’s session, “the federal mediator reported that the company refused to agree to any future negotiation sessions.”

Republic Services says that the federal mediator recommended they end their most recent round of talks after it became clear no progress was being made. The company says they “offered to resume negotiations on Friday, July 18, but the union refused.”

“Enough is enough. It is time for the Teamsters to end this strike,” a Republic Services spokesperson said in a statement.

From the union’s perspective, the company arrived at the bargaining table only to refuse to budge on allowing members to shift to a union healthcare plan, which they say offers more comprehensive coverage.

“We offered a plan to the company that would delay the start of the union insurance, saving the company a substantial amount of money. We also offered a plan that would result in certain employees the company claimed it was concerned about to make certain they would continue to get the benefits of the prevailing wage law,” Mari of the Teamsters said.

The company didn’t accept any offer made, the union president said, and then it “actually decreased its wage offer for one of the more critical jobs performed for Republic.”

“It’s amazing that the company continues to show its lack of credibility and good faith bargaining. Republic’s disdain for its employees and the thousands of citizens of the cities and towns it services by refusing to bargain in good faith is obvious but not surprising,” he said.

Lawyers for Arizona-based Republic Services have asked a judge to intervene and order the striking workers to cease alleged “violent strike activities and other unlawful behavior.”

In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts, lawyers for the company asked for “an immediate temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to stop this unlawful conduct.”

Top among their list of complaints is that, “on July 10, 2025, at approximately 4:35 a.m., a Republic Services roll-off truck was stolen while the driver was checking in with the scale house attendant at a third-party transfer station.”

The truck was found intact a short while later, and no one was caught, but the company says it takes special training to drive one of their trucks, which only the local Teamsters would possess.

Republic’s lawyers say that “this incident” came shortly after the Local 25’s president, Thomas Mari “yelled at Republic General Manager Kenny Runge” while negotiations were ongoing, allegedly saying “you think this is bad? Wait until we ramp it up.”

The company’s attorneys also allege the union’s members have harassed and intimidated workers they brought in to fill their vacant roles, threatened their employees with physical harm, spit in their faces, and have repeatedly blocked access to their transfer stations and other facilities. They are also, according to the lawsuit, damaging company property.

“Defendants have mechanically disabled Republic’s trucks while surrounding the trucks, preventing drivers from leaving their trucks and preventing trucks from free movement and access to Republic’s properties. This has happened both at Republic sites, and remotely at Republic’s customer sites or municipalities in which Republic employees have been attempting to operate their routes,” they allege.

The lawsuit names as defendants in their official capacity Teamsters Local 25 Secretary-Treasurer Steven South, Vice President Joan Corey, and Recording Secretary Peter Berry.

The suit also names in both their official capacity and personally President Mari, Union Trustee Nico Catano, Union Business Agent Brian Hatch, and Union Representatives Milton DePina, Eric Logan, and David Smith.

The company’s lawsuit targets but does not name between one and one hundred “John Does” as well as “all others conspiring, acting in concert, or otherwise participating with (the union) or acting in their aid or behalf.”

The union did not immediately return a request for comment on the lawsuit.