The City of Maple Valley has been in communication with Recology King County regarding a possible strike that may affect Maple Valley customers.
During contract negotiations earlier in the week, a group of five members of the data division voted for the right to strike. Although the ultimate decision to strike has not yet been made, it is a possibility. Recology is working on their response to the data division’s contract requests in an attempt to avoid a strike. The two groups will be meeting later today.
The data division manages and organizes waste management route information and if they make the decision to strike, Maple Valley customers can expect the following impacts to their service:
- There would be a delay in the daily update and pickup information available on the Recology website;
- The GIS and video review process after a complaint is received would be delayed;
- There would be a delay in pickup service which would result in customers being serviced later in the day on their scheduled pickup days;
- The invoicing process would not be affected; however, customers who order large roll-off pickup on an on-call basis may not be able to receive billing information on the same day their request is made.
On January 8, Recology released the following statement:
“Recology has an excellent relationship with our employees and a great track record of working with the Teamsters – demonstrated by our 291 employee-owners who are members of the Local. Yesterday we began bargaining to cover data quality employees. We were surprised that within hours of just one introductory bargaining session where the Teamsters presented their first offer, and prior to receiving any proposal from Recology, the Union notified us of their intention to strike. As a result, Recology had no choice but to protect the company and all of our customers by appealing to the National Labor Relations Board for immediate relief to prevent a strike and continue negotiations. Recology is committed to working this out with the Teamsters through good faith negotiations.
We do not believe negotiations concerning 5 employees should jeopardize garbage and recycling collection for thousands of customers and we have asked the Teamsters to return to the bargaining table so we can provide a response to their initial proposal. Recology is committed to participating in a fair and thoughtful bargaining process and will bargain with the Teamsters in good faith. Recology is also dedicated to maintaining excellent customer service during this time.”
For more information, please contact Amy Shaw, Associate Engineer, at (425) 413-8800 or amy.shaw@maplevalleywa.gov
