Community Post

No garbage strike for us. Put your cans out! Updated!

We just got a call from our friend JW who asked an important question: “should we put our garbage cans out tomorrow, what with the strike and all?”

The answer is yes! If your normal garbage day is Thursday!

As we mentioned a few weeks ago, our pickup is handled by Clean Scapes, whose workers are happily working under an existing labor contract and are not on strike.

That’s just one of the many benefits of living in Seattle’s Best Neighborhood ™.

Update: City says to put out your trash even if you live in an affected area (heads up to all our buddies in Mt. Baker)

Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) is asking its Thursday customers to put out their regularly-scheduled garbage, yard waste and recycling for collection, despite a strike by Teamsters Local 174 garbage and yard waste drivers.

Those customers whose collections were missed today – Wednesday – are asked to put all of their garbage, yard waste and recycling out on their next regular collection day.

Waste Management services approximately 18,000 residential customers on Thursdays in the following approximate areas:

— W. of I-5 to the Sound, between N. 145th St. and N. 105th St.

— Between I-5 and SR99 from N. 85th St to Northgate Way

— S. of I-90 to S. Orcas St; from Beacon Ave. S. to Lake Washington.

0 thoughts on “No garbage strike for us. Put your cans out! Updated!

  1. This strike is avoidable, and seems an awful lot like what I remember from my history lessons. American culture has a fundamental reflex against carpet bagger robber barons moving into towns and short-changing the labor force.

    If you’re angry too, call Duane Woods (WM West Division VP) at (480) 419-6140. If you don’t get him, leave him a message telling him how we don’t want him lowering our local standard of living.

  2. Thanks for this story. It’s great to get the details on things like this. We’ll be putting out our cans in the morning.

  3. We had our regular Thursday garbage pickup today. (the green trucks). Talked to the driver and he said this area is NOT affected by the strike, different company is striking.

  4. they make 26 dollars an hour to do unskilled not collage required work: http://www.seattlepi.com/sound/418861_sound91773974.html
    this is why i hate unions i get payed 12 dollars an hour to take apart and recycle pc’s they get 26 dollars an hour to drive trucks and use hydrolic levers to dump trash cans where is my union, do you know how fired i would be if i tryed to form a union in my wherehouse… and furthermore thats your tax dollars paying these chumps way more then the real private sector is willing to pay there uneducated workers. if i cant make a living wage why should my taxes go from me to these guys so that they can????

  5. Sometimes you have to pay people more to do jobs no one wants to do. Clearly you prefer to work on Pcs for 12 dollars an hour so much so that that you are willing to give up an extra 14 dollars an hour not to be a garbage man. That is your choice.

  6. Wow. How can you try to clown on “these chumps” who are “uneducated workers” and you can’t even spell the word college? With your obvious educational level I’m surprised you don’t just stop the bitter griping and go get a job as a garbage man.

  7. why doesn’t everyone be a trash collector?

    Mark, you make it sound so fun and easy. must be the trash part that puts people off.

  8. [T]hey make $26 an hour to do unskilled labor[.] (it’s understood that unskilled labor doesn’t require a degree) [T]his is why [I] hate unions[.] [I] get [paid] $12 and hour to [disassemble] and recycle [PCs.] [T]hey [get paid] to drive trucks and use [hydraulic] levers to dump trash cans[.] [W]here is my union[?] [D]o you know how [“] fired [“] (inappropriate grammar, but casual usage noted) [I] would be if [I tried] to form a union in my [warehouse?] [redacted ellipse and] [F]uthermore, that[‘]s your tax dollars paying these chumps way more that the real private sector is willing to pay [their] uneducated workers. (Citation needed) [I]f [I] can[‘]t make a living wage[,] why should my taxes [support their attempts to procure a living wage?]

    Overall, while your resentment at your lot in life comes through clearly, it is difficult to determine if you are actually anti-union or simply upset that your chosen profession has difficulty unionizing. As well, they are branches of the IWW and other unions who provide union services to people in your situation, so your lack of research is showing. Obviously, the amount of corrections required is a major detriment to whatever argument you are making as well. The reader is forced to reflect on the possibility that, perhaps, if you understood how to effectively communicate, you wouldn’t be stuck in your $12/hour position.

    D-. Please see me after class.

  9. Dude -if you are peeved that you do not make $26 an hour…than go be a garbage man! I am happy that my garbage man gets $26 an hour. I have no desire to deal with trash and am happy that the people that do are well payed and can support their families. Apparently you need to go to college and figure out that college is spelled with an “e” not an “a”.

  10. A Bachelor’s Degree and 5 years experience as a graphic designer will earn you about the same as being a garbage collector. Level of education does not necessarily equal more pay. Anyone with a PhD in Art History, Latin, etc. can tell you that much. So why do the garbage collectors make as much as an experienced designer like myself?

    – Starting wages aren’t that high. $26 an hour is an average.
    – They get exposed to toxic, disgusting and hazardous material on a regular basis while I get exposed to a computer screen and ample coffee.
    – They work in all weather conditions constantly hopping on and off a truck where as I get to sit at a comfy desk indoors or work from home if I choose.
    – They start at 6 a.m. but I get to keep a regular 9-5 schedule.
    – They average 46 hours a week. I average 40 hours a week. 6 more hours each weeks equals about 7 extra 40 hour work weeks each year.
    – They have to be strong to pick up and move large containers full of filth. I just have to be able to pick up my laptop.
    – They have little room for advancement and upward career mobility. I can potentially become a manager, director, etc.
    – They have to throw clothing away on a regular basis. I get to shop and wear whatever I want.
    – They provide a vital service that protects public health and well being. I provide a skill that is inconsequential to the general smooth running of society.

    In short, they do a very undesirable and hazardous job with little prestige, career growth, or flexibility that is necessary to keep the city running. That is why they get paid a decent wage. Coal miners, fish smashers, shipping container sailors and oil derrick workers are in the same situation.

    Also, dissembling PCs is a trainable skill and does not require an advanced degree.

  11. i never said i could spell, what i am saying is because they are working for the public sector they get payed more then someone doing the same level of work in the private sector

    – Starting wages aren’t that high. $26 an hour is an average.
    – They get exposed to toxic, disgusting and hazardous material on a regular basis while I get exposed to a computer screen and ample coffee.
    – They work in all weather conditions constantly hopping on and off a truck where as I get to sit at a comfy desk indoors or work from home if I choose.
    – They start at 6 a.m. but I get to keep a regular 9-5 schedule.
    – They average 46 hours a week. I average 40 hours a week. 6 more hours each weeks equals about 7 extra 40 hour work weeks each year.
    – They have to be strong to pick up and move large containers full of filth. I just have to be able to pick up my laptop.
    – They have little room for advancement and upward career mobility. I can potentially become a manager, director, etc.
    – They have to throw clothing away on a regular basis. I get to shop and wear whatever I want.
    – They provide a vital service that protects public health and well being. I provide a skill that is inconsequential to the general smooth running of society.

    all of this is as true at re-pc as anywhere else except the 6 am bit at another place you would load pcs by hand up and down flights of stairs all day.
    both provide a vital service that protects public health and well being. seeing as how i cant throw away e-waste anymore.

    so why dose one start at 10.00 with opportunity up to about 15 and the other at 26? It is because there union and the city of seattle. http://www.effwa.org/main/article.php?article_id=982 makes a good point while seattle pays private more on average then public read “What is most notable about the average wage differences is the ability of public and private sector employers to increase employees’ wages. While the private sector is dependent on making budget priorities within forecasted profit margins to determine what funds exist for wages, the public sector is capable of tapping—at will—the taxpayer to secure desired funds.” If i want to pay my employees X then i need to make Y but if i can strike and ask for more who cares anymore.
    re- haters education and collAge seldom go hand in hand

  12. As well, they are branches of the IWW and other unions
    be real if you strike at a warehouse with less then 10 employees you will be fired when you try to get a new job they will call your old boss and not hire you, i don’t think you understand how much small biz hates unions

  13. Garbage collectors also get hazard pay. Lifting cans that are allowed to weight 70lbs each (and frequently weigh more), they get injured eventually and become disabled. You wont meet many garbage men who’ve been doing the job for more than a decade. Why? Because they get hurt, go on disability (which = income below the poverty line), and can no longer work in labor jobs.