An apparent road rage incident took place in Marshfield Wednesday after a car was caught on camera blocking the path of a garbage truck.
Officers said they believe the people driving the sedan are Republic trash collectors who have been on strike for 64 days. The driver of the trash truck is a replacement worker.
Lenore Cochrane, a Lynn Street resident, captured the confrontation on her cellphone around 8 a.m. Wednesday.
The video shows the car blocking the street and the garbage truck making aggressive maneuvers to try and get around the roadblock.
While it may look like the truck is the instigator, Cochrane said it was the group in the car who started the tiff.
“It seemed like an intimidation tactic to me,” she said. “They had no good reason to be on Lynn Street other than to make this guy’s job difficult.”
“The bottom line is that you are not allowed to block public access,” Marshfield Police Chief Phillip Tavares said. “In the same sense, you know, trash trucks are not allowed to drive aggressively and continuously lay on the horn and disturb the neighbors.”
In a statement, president of the teamsters local union Sean M. O’Brien said, “Republic Services is utilizing out of state replacement drivers who are uncertified, lack proper training, and are not subject to criminal background checks. The incident today is a result of Republic Services being reckless and having no regard for public safety or its own employees.”
Police say both parties are at fault in this situation.
“We’d like any of this strike stuff to be ironed out at the negotiation table and not played out in the streets of Marshfield,” Tavares said.
No charges have been pressed because no crime was committed.
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