Sec. of State calls on Republic Services to reach deal to end strike

Secretary of State William F Galvin is calling on Republic Services to intensify negotiations to end the -day sanitation worker strike that has left garbage piling up in specific 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 institution 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 current participation Refuse collection is an significant population system that should not be conditioned on a private company s strategy Circumstances such as these raise serious questions whether these pivotal citizens services should be left to private companies without state oversight Republic issued their own announcement saying There is no question who is responsible for this ongoing strike Teamsters Local 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 noted they have offered at least percent increases in the majority latest round of negotiations but striking workers say it is still not comparable to what other sanitation workers are making