Some trash, recycling pickup to resume Wednesday as drivers stand in solidarity with striking Teamsters

TOLEDO, Ohio (WTVG) — Republic Services will resume some garbage pick-up on Wednesday after services were canceled Tuesday. Local union drivers are trying to show their support for striking Teamsters.

13 Action News crews saw trash trucks leaving the Republic Services’ facility in Monroe County, Michigan early Wednesday morning after Tuesday’s disruption to trash and recycling collection.

A City of Toledo spokesperson said all routes are out Wednesday for refuse and recycling, but Republic Services won’t do bulk collection. They will have additional drivers on hand for Thursday, so bulk collection can resume then. Some residents may still see delays in pickup, so anticipate a holiday schedule with a one-day delay.

An update from the City of Maumee said residents can expect trash collection only on Wednesday, with no recycling or yard waste collection.

Cities including Toledo, Maumee and Sylvania were affected Tuesday, citing an “unanticipated work stoppage.” We’ve since learned that drivers are supporting Teamsters elsewhere who are striking against Republic Services.

City officials asked residents to keep their bins out until they are serviced. Sylvania, Maumee and Toledo said they expect service to resume on Wednesday. The City of Toledo said it will begin operating on a one-day delay for the rest of the week as replacement drivers will be used.

According to a social media post from Monclova Township, trash and recycling service has been suspended for Wednesday and trash service, not recycling, will occur on Thursday. According to the post, residents may see additional delays in service and people are urged to leave the trash out until collection is completed.

Monclova residents are also urged to seek county recycling drop-off locations if needed.

Local Teamsters drivers for Republic are standing in solidarity with other locals who are on strike against Republic Services, a Teamsters official told 13 Action News.

Teamsters Local 179 in Illinois is striking against Republic Services and has extended its picket line to the Republic office in Monroe County, Michigan. Local drivers in the Toledo region have a current contract, but they’re honoring the strike line of their fellow Teamsters.

Those protesting said they’re not sure how long they’re staying. Once they leave, local drivers will go back to work.

Some residents are frustrated about a delay that does not directly affect local workers.

“I get it. I’ve seen other places where it’s gotten out of control and i hope that they see that if it does get so out of control that they’ll realize that ‘hey, OK we showed out support and now it’s time to get back to our community and help our community,’” said Toledo resident Brianna Pollauf.

“It’s not even our local guys. It’s somebody a couple of states away. That’s malarkey,” said Toledo resident Bill Pugh.

Republic Services apologized for the inconvenience, the two city announcements said.

Toledo officials say some collection will resume on Wednesday with replacement drivers. Delays can be expected as Tuesday’s garbage will be collected on Wednesday. The city is treating it like a holiday schedule and pickup is delayed one day.

“How long’s it gonna be here? Maybe a day I can put up with it. After that, I don’t like it,” said Pugh.

“We just got back from camping, so we went through the shed and cleaned and on vacation and cleaning everything. It’s just a really bad week to have extra garbage,” said Pollauf

13 Action News reached out to Republic Services and received the following statement:

“Republic Services is in contract negotiations with the union representing a small number of our employees in Illinois. A few of those employees are picketing outside our Toledo hauling location, and our local union employees are choosing not to cross this picket line, which is disrupting service.

We are making adjustments to our operations, including bringing in additional Republic Services employees to assist with collections. Today’s scheduled collection routes will be picked up on Wednesday, and we expect to run on a one-day delay throughout the week as we catch up. We are asking customers to leave their containers out until they are serviced.

We apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and are working hard to resume normal operations as quickly as we can.”

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