Sec. of State calls on Republic Services to reach deal to end strike

Secretary of State William F Galvin is calling on Republic Services to intensify negotiations to end the -day sanitation worker strike that has left garbage piling up in chosen communities In a letter to the company s president Galvin wrote I am writing to express my concern about the impact your company s negotiating tactics are having on the residents of the fourteen municipalities that presently have system contracts with your company It continued Residents of these communities are experiencing inconvenience disruption and hardship because of these stalled negotiations caused by the failure of your company to continue functioning participation Refuse collection is an key masses operation that should not be conditioned on a private company s strategy Circumstances such as these raise serious questions whether these major constituents services should be left to private companies without state oversight Republic issued their own message saying There is no question who is responsible for this ongoing strike Teamsters Local and its president Tom Mari It is time for the Teamsters to get serious about negotiations so our employees can return to work Both sides will return to the negotiating table on Tuesday but they remain far apart on compensation Republic has disclosed they have offered at least percent increases in the bulk latest round of negotiations but striking workers say it is still not comparable to what other sanitation workers are making