Date: September 21, 2008
Source: Waste Management and the Teamsters Local 200
Teamsters Overwhelmingly Reject Waste Management Offer
Official Statement of Teamsters Local 200 Secretary-Treasurer Tom Millonzi
"Today, our members on strike against Waste Management overwhelmingly voted down the company's contract proposal.
Our members have made clear with these last two votes that they will not approve a proposal that replaces their retirement's defined benefit program with a 401(k) plan.
What makes this situation even more troubling for our members is that Waste Management has negotiated and settled three other Teamster contracts in other parts of the country over the last calendar year that included the Central States Pension Plan that the company now refuses to consider.
We have offered to meet with the company at any time and at any place in order to resolve this contract."
SOURCE: Teamsters Local 200, www.teamster.org/
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Company Pursuing Permanent Replacements
Waste Management Contract Off Table
Waste Management employees represented by Teamsters Local 200 today rejected the company's last, best and final contract offer, an outcome a spokeswoman said will force the company to pursue hiring permanent replacement workers in order to ensure continued service to its customers.
"The contract on the table was fair to everyone," Waste Management spokeswoman Lynn Morgan said. "The employees would have taken home market-leading pay and benefits and gained better protection from the Teamsters' failing pension fund."
Company officials are disappointed that the contract was rejected, Morgan said, but will respect the employees' decision. "It's time to move on," she said. Waste Management had set a deadline of 4 p.m. today for ratification of the contract, and the offer will now be withdrawn and modified to provide scaled back wage increases and health benefits.
Waste Management is pursuing the hiring of permanent replacement workers. "Company leaders take this step reluctantly and with heavy hearts," Morgan said. "Communities are counting on Waste Management, and the company has to ensure continued service to its customers." Crews of experienced Waste Management employees have been servicing Waste Management's customers and continuing its operations during the strike.
In a surprising development, union leaders today asked members to vote on the same package they rejected Friday, a modified version of a proposal Waste Management submitted to union negotiators Sept. 10 as the company's last, best and final offer. Union officials this morning sought Waste Management's consent to put the modified package to a second vote rather than hold a vote on the original unmodified version that had been slated for action today.
The modified plan would have scaled back wage increases to pay for additional 401(k) pension contributions to the most senior union members facing cuts in pension benefits from the Teamsters' failing Central States Pension Fund. Waste Management has proposed creating a new 401(k) pension benefit and discontinuing future contributions to Central States, a provision the company sought in order to shield it and employees from risks associated with Central States' shaky financial condition. In response, Central States' trustees have threatened to deny Waste Management employees the full pension benefits the company has already purchased on their behalf.
Teamsters Local 200 represents about 240 truck drivers, equipment operators and mechanics employed at Waste Management's Milwaukee area operations. The company provides waste collection and recycling services for an estimated 102,500 homes and 16,330 businesses and institutions locally, and provides disposal services for waste that municipal crews and other companies collect from homes and facilities throughout the metropolitan area.
SOURCE: Waste Management, www.wm.com.
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