BOSTON (WHDH) - Secretary of State William F. Galvin is calling on Republic Services to “intensify negotiations” to end the 12-day sanitation worker strike that has left garbage piling up in some communities.
In a letter to the company’s president, Galvin wrote, “I am writing to express my concern about the impact, your company’s negotiating tactics are having on the residents of the fourteen municipalities that presently have service contracts with your company.”
It continued, “Residents of these communities are experiencing inconvenience, disruption and hardship because of these stalled negotiations caused by the failure of your company to continue active participation. Refuse collection is an important public service that should not be conditioned on a private company’s strategy. Circumstances such as these raise serious questions whether these important public services should be left to private companies without state oversight.”
Republic issued their own statement, saying, “There is no question who is responsible for this ongoing strike. Teamsters Local 25 and its president Tom Mari. It is time for the Teamsters to get serious about negotiations so our employees can return to work.”
Both sides will return to the negotiating table on Tuesday but they remain far apart on compensation. Republic has said they have offered at least 43 percent increases in the most recent round of negotiations but striking workers say it is still not comparable to what other sanitation workers are making.
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