WAKEFIELD — Town refuse and recycling contractor Republic Services is hitting back at striking workers and suing the union representing them.
After more than two weeks of worker strikes over failed contract negotiations, Republic Services is taking legal action against Teamsters Local 25, filing for injunctive relief in U.S. District Court after what Republic says are “numerous incidents of harassment, threats, physical intimidation, vandalism, and blockades of Republic’s trucks and employees throughout Greater Boston” and accusing Teamsters and President Tom Mari of “unlawful and dangerous conduct.”
According to a report on NBC 10 Boston, the company and the union did not reach an agreement despite hours at the negotiation table with a federal mediator on Friday, and again Tuesday. As a result, the work stoppages continue, affecting trash pickup in 14 communities that have been struggling with trash and recycling piles.
In Wakefield, the DPW has been doing all it can to pick up the slack left by irregular Republic pickup. Town Counsel Thomas A. Mullen sent Republic a notice of non-performance and demand for remedy on behalf of the town last Friday. Also on Friday, Interim Town Administrator Kevin Gill was one of 13 officials from communities served by Republic to sign a letter urging Republic to reach agreement with its workers.
The latest contract between the Teamsters and Republic expired at midnight on June 30. At issue are pay and benefits.
The union says that Republic Services pays significantly less than other companies that service the area. While the company has offered to increase wages, Teamsters say it’s still below the wages currently being paid to Capitol employees. Furthermore, the union says the company refuses to budge on its demands for more comprehensive health care.
But Republic Services said that their wage offer is better than the competitors’, and argued that the health care plan the union wants is significantly more expensive without significantly better benefits.
State officials, including Massachusetts State Treasurer Deborah Goldberg and Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin, have both written to Republic Services urging them to end the strike.
No agreement was reached as of Tuesday night — both sides reported little progress.
Full statements from both are below:
Republic Services’ update after Tuesday’s negotiations
Little progress was made today in negotiations. Enough is enough. The community is ready for our employees to get back to work and resume normal operations. The Teamsters are dragging this out for their benefit and continuing their criminal behavior, putting our employees and the community at risk.
Today, we confirmed that our wage offer is higher than our local competitors, but the Teamsters were unwilling to compromise on their demands.
• Our wage offer is better than our competitors.
• Our employees’ currently enjoy a zero-premium healthcare plan with no deductible. The union’ plan is significantly more expensive and does not provide significantly greater benefit.
• Teamsters’ demand that our Greater Boston employees stop work over labor disputes in other parts of the country is harmful to this community.
• Safety is non-negotiable for Republic Services, but is not a priority for the Teamsters.
Due to the Teamsters unlawful and dangerous conduct, Republic Services filed a legal action in the U.S. District Court for Massachusetts against Teamsters Local 25, its President Tom Mari and several union officials seeking immediate injunctive relief. This action follows numerous incidents of harassment, threats, physical intimidation, vandalism, and blockades of Republic’s trucks and employees throughout Greater Boston, including:
• Theft of a Republic Services garbage truck
• Slashing of tires
• Spraying chemicals into the eyes of a Republic Services driver
• Blocking trucks at facilities and customer sites, delaying our ability to serve customers
• Threats of violence and hate speech directed at employees
On the mediator’s recommendation, we ended negotiations for the night. We offered to resume negotiations on Friday, July 18, but the union refused.
Enough is enough. It is time for the Teamsters to end this strike.
We empathize with customers who have been impacted by the Teamsters’ decision to stop work. We are working hard to continue providing service. For the latest service information, customers can call 781-289-0500.
Teamsters Local 25’s update after Tuesday’s negotiations
During the 11th bargaining session held on July 15, 2025, which lasted more than 12 hours, conducted with the assistance of a mediator assigned by the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service, Republic again refused to bargain over the issue of health insurance. Tom Mari, President of Teamsters Local Union No. 25 stated “Despite the union indicating its willingness to modify its health insurance proposal to meet the company’s concerns, Republic turned its back to us. We offered a plan to the company that would delay the start of the union insurance saving the company a substantial amount of money. We also offered a plan that would result in certain employees the company claimed it was concerned about to make certain they would continue to get the benefits of the prevailing wage law. Instead, the company rejected every proposal. Then it actually decreased its wage offer for one of the more critical jobs performed for Republic”. “It’s amazing”, Mari explained, “that the company continues to show its lack of credibility and good faith bargaining. Republic’s disdain for its employees and the thousands of citizens of the cities and towns it services by refusing to bargain in good faith is obvious but not surprising. We haven’t been given a legitimate offer that recognizes our needs in two weeks”. Republic refused to present any proposal either verbally or in writing. At the end of the session, the federal mediator reported that the company refused to agree any future negotiation sessions.
The strike by more than 400 Republic employees represented by Local 25 is now in its third week with no end in sight. Republic is also facing strikes in three other states as thousands of Teamsters nation-wide continue to honor picket lines extended by the striking Teamster Locals resulting in 4,000 Teamsters refusing to work.
“As I told Republic weeks ago, Local 25 will continue the strike until Republic agrees to pay the same wages and benefits enjoyed by our members who work for Capitol and Star. That’s why we are willing to meet every day for as long as it takes to get our members what they deserve,” Mari said.
— Information compiled by Thea DiGiammerino and Malcolm Johnson of NBC 10 Boston was used in this report.