Negotiations for a new contract to cover over 80 garbage drivers, recycle drivers, mechanics, transfer station and toter-washer Employees at Sanitary Service Company concluded on January 12, 2024, when the Bargaining Units ratified a new 4-year agreement.  The parties reached an incredibly strong contract that will set a new standard in the Solid Waste and Recycling industry for the next four years. Members had made clear they were willing to fight hard to win major victories, and the new contract delivered.

The achievements in this newly negotiated Agreement are too numerous to list. Workers won strong new language that requires payment to Drivers who float between routes. The new Agreement also provides stronger language requiring payment to bid drivers if they are moved off their routes and put on a different route. The addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid Holiday is a tremendous display of awareness and recognition by Sanitary Service Company.

On the economic side, the achievements around wage and pension increases set a new area standard for the other haulers in King, Snohomish, Whatcom and Skagit Counties.

“Sanitary Services Company delivered for their employees and for the communities they service. In the very near future, other haulers will need to meet this new industry standard for their employees and I hope they are ready to reward their workers the way Sanitary Services has.” said Teamsters Local 231 Secretary-Treasurer Rich Ewing. “By bargaining this Master Agreement together, we were able to gain better leverage to get a contract that will be life-changing for our members.”