



It has now been a week since hundreds of sanitation workers collectively decided to walk off the job after their contract expired as negotiations over a new deal dragged on, and it seems the disagreement between the union and the trash company is no closer to a conclusion.
Many of the about 450 striking members of the Teamsters Local 25 marched in picket lines during the Fourth of July holiday last week and through the weekend as they push for better wages and more competitive benefits from waste management giant Republic Services, who they say pays far less than other regional garbage collecting companies.
Republic Services told the Herald on Tuesday that while the strike continues trash service is being provided by outside crews — last week the union called them scabs — and that most of the impacted towns, except Arlington, Saugus, and Topsfield, will see regular service this week.
While the striking Teamsters might be the most visible, they aren’t the only union threatening a work stoppage.
A spokesperson for the Local 26 union which represents concession workers at Fenway Park says their union hasn’t made any headway with their employers either, and that they may soon take a page out of the Teamsters’ playbook.
“The Union and Aramark remain very far apart in terms of our primary demands — non-tipped wages that match the citywide standard and guardrails on automation,” the spokesperson said.
Hundreds of their union members, they said, have signed up for “strike benefits,” which usually serves as a sign that “the workers are ready to walk off the job.”
Nothing has been scheduled by the bargaining committee, but the union is getting picket signs ready because a strike could occur at any point in the coming days, they said.
“In the event of a strike, we’re asking the public to not buy concessions from inside the ballpark. We’re not asking people to miss games or concerts, though obviously a strike will impact their experience at the ballpark,” the union spokesperson said.
The pair of blue-collar strikes come as a group of Bay State lawyers hold a strike of their own. A collection of bar advocates — private lawyers contracted to provide legal service to indigent clients — declared in May they would stop taking new clients until the state upped their compensation to compete with surrounding states and provide a living wage.
The lawyers, who represent the vast majority of clients covered by court appointed attorneys, have been on strike for so long that last week the state’s Supreme Judicial Court ordered lower courts to begin to release those who face charges but can’t find representation, or to dismiss their charges outright.