By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — The trash strike is over.
Republic Services and Teamsters Local 25 agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement on Sept. 19, which ended the trash collection strike that began on July 1. The work stoppage impacted municipalities across the North Shore and Greater Boston, including Lynnfield.
In a statement posted on Republic Services’ website on Sept. 19, Market Vice President Kurt Lavery wrote that the trash and recycling collection company and Teamsters Local 25 reached a new five-year collective bargaining agreement that ended the 82-day strike.
“We appreciate the community’s patience during this service interruption and apologize for the inconvenience it has caused,” stated Lavery. “We worked hard to reach a mutual agreement that restores the high-level of service expected by customers in Greater Boston. We look forward to our employees returning to work on (Sept. 22) and quickly resuming normal operations. We will work tirelessly to restore our customers’ trust.”
Teamsters Local 25 President Tom Mari wrote in a statement emailed to the Villager that the union members working at Republic Services “overwhelmingly voted to approve a new contract” on Sept. 19.
“The 400 striking Republic Teamsters stuck together and emerged victorious following one of the longest strikes in Local 25 history and the longest strike in Republic’s history,” wrote Mari in the statement. “The Republic Teamsters waged a successful fight to win a contract that improves wages, dental, audiology and vision benefits, and many other terms of employment. This is the strongest contract Republic Boston Teamsters have ever achieved.”
The contract’s details were not released publicly.
Town Administrator Rob Dolan was relieved that the trash strike ended after 82 days.
“We are happy to report that the Teamsters-Republic trash strike has ended,” Dolan wrote on the Town of Lynnfield Facebook page. “Regular crews will return on (Sept. 22). We would like to thank the DPW for their tireless efforts to limit impacts to our community and we thank the citizens of Lynnfield for their cooperation and patience.”
Gov. Maura Healey wrote in a statement emailed to the Villager that she was “glad that Republic and Teamsters Local 25 have been able to reach an agreement.”
“This is welcome news for the people and communities served by Republic, and for the sanitation workers who can now return to work with the wages and benefits they deserve,” Healey wrote in a statement that was emailed to the Villager and other news organizations.
Mari wrote that he has “never been prouder of a group of Teamsters in my life.”
“These workers stood strong for 82 days to send a message across the country,” stated Mari. “Never once did they waiver in their commitment to remain on strike until they got what they deserved. This is an extremely strong contract, and our members are looking forward to going back to work (on Sept. 22), and back into the communities they service. Thank you to the people who live in the affected communities who openly urged Republic to provide its employees with the contract that represents the hard work the employees perform every day. Sticking together and never uncertain of their objective, these Teamsters won the contract they fought for and deserve. Many thanks also to Gov. Healey, the Massachusetts congressional delegation and the many politicians who publicly supported us. Their support was critical to our success.”
After Teamsters Local 25 voted to go on strike, Republic Services hired replacement drivers to service the 14 communities impacted by the strike. While Lynnfield DPW employees collected recycling on a biweekly basis for most of July, Republic Services replacement workers started collecting both trash and recycling in late July. The company’s replacement workers collected trash weekly and recycling biweekly for the past two months.