55 Replies to "Strike update: City says no home pickup expected Tuesday"

• Kim July 30, 2012 (2:24 pm)

  I would hope that customers will not be billed for missed weeks?

• JEM July 30, 2012 (2:34 pm)

  Your bill remains the same since you get to put out double (or quadruple if you wish) next week. So they are only “delaying” not “missing” pick-ups.

• michael July 30, 2012 (2:39 pm)

  I agree with Kim. It would be really lousy of them to charge for any extra bags that are caused by this.

• HJD July 30, 2012 (2:47 pm)

  While I fully support the right of unions and union-affiliated workers to strike, I also fully support the right of companies to hire exclusively non-union workers in response. Especially when said union workers are actively attempting to prevent non-union workers from doing their jobs.

• Brandon July 30, 2012 (2:50 pm)

  time to throw away all that crap that i normally have to go to the dump for.

• Westcoastdeb July 30, 2012 (2:50 pm)

  Running out of room for ‘extra’ garbage. Can’t just leave bags out due to animals, can’t leave them in due to smell. Wish the dump would let us dump them either free of charge or with the charge subtracted from our utilities bill (with a limit of whatever ‘reasonable’ waste a house would produce in ‘x’ number of weeks).

• Panda July 30, 2012 (2:56 pm)

  Double check your bill once you have your multiple collections picked up at once. They constantly bill me for extra yard waste when I only put out the single bin. Unless my neighbor keeps sneaking bags over when I’m not looking, they seem to like to double bill. I’ve had to call several times to have the extra charges credited. Makes me wonder if the drivers get a “bonus” for every extra bag they pickup – incentive to increase the number on their part. Just a curious customer.

• DCo July 30, 2012 (3:00 pm)

  Yes but who’s going to pick up the mess from when our local critters getting in to all of this overflowing garbage? By next week our trash will not fit in our little can. I hope this comes to a conclusion very quickly!

• Dunno July 30, 2012 (3:02 pm)

  I have a truck license, good health, 4 years of college. My job is part time, no health or retirement, stressful, and starting pay is $9 a hour. Most law enforcement have at least 2 years college and many have military backgrounds. As for the fat cats upstairs. I know some and they have very short lives and extremly high stress. Most of us have no idea, and boy it easy to target them. You want danger. How about our highway workers, construction, ferry workers, and the list goes on and on. Very few start close to $68 a year, let alone a benifits package of $98k a year. Most of us have no idea! My father in law is a retired general Dr. His last job paid $17 a hour. He spent 8 years in school, 4 years internship and is living off social security now.
  This is America, if you can get a better deal somewhere else have at it, otherwise, take the $$ and be thankful for what you do have. One question? If you get more money, does that you will pick up all the crap you leave all over our alley every week for the clean green and every other for the paper and other stuff?

• G July 30, 2012 (3:04 pm)

  Glad I’m out of town. In SoCal garbage is getting picked up and I don’t have to worry about getting shot.

• sam-c July 30, 2012 (3:08 pm)

  so if they make a similar announcement for Wednesday’s service, will the larger ‘one-week fines’ $250,000/day begin?

  Wednesday’s service was already missed last week. From what I’ve read, the City of Seattle will fine WM the larger amount after one week of missed service.

• Carrie July 30, 2012 (3:08 pm)

  How do they want us to put out extra yard waste? Do we just leave a big extra stack next to the road?

• Ms. Sparkles July 30, 2012 (3:16 pm)

  Who wants to get together, load our garbage, recycling and yard waste in a pick up and dump it at Waste Management’s front door?

• Tammy July 30, 2012 (3:20 pm)

  What about those of us that have been forced to be part of the Every-Other-Week trash pickup? I called City of Seattle and was told by customer service that this issue doesn’t seem to have even been addressed or considered. My next pickup would be potentially in 2 more weeks if trash is not picked up this week. This may mean a full month of no trash pickup for some of us Seattle residents. Annoying, ridiculous, unfair to be part of this to begin with, now health hazard is coming to mind (we already have wildlife getting into trash as it is). Augh!

• Dunno July 30, 2012 (3:36 pm)

  Talk about being shot. Try being a gas station clerk or corner grocery. How much do you think they make. How many have been robbed or harassed. The bank near my house has been robbed 3 times in the past 10 years, how much do the people make. Not a package of 98k a year. Saturday and Sunday, for many of us those are work days. There are many opportunities in the US, just like the post above, if this doesn’t work for you, moveon.org!

• Dunno July 30, 2012 (3:44 pm)

  sparkles,

  That is a good idea. WM should have trucks where we can take our stuff to them. Maybe there is someplace we can take it?

• Alki Resident July 30, 2012 (3:49 pm)

  This s becoming a health hazard in my home, in my yard and in my fridge. is it free to bring it to the dump?

• boy July 30, 2012 (3:50 pm)

  ms sparkles, Don’t you mean at the feet or the doors of the striking workers. I keep the extra trash in the basement. I have lots of room. I hope WM holds out and breaks these thugs. In fact start reducing there’re wages for everyday they don’t come back to work.

• WSTroll July 30, 2012 (3:58 pm)

  The union’s demands don’t seem that outrageous to me. Don’t we all agree that the workers for a company that have a lucrative city contract should make a middle class wage?

• Anomie 2 July 30, 2012 (4:05 pm)

  Recycling is every 2 weeks. So this was our recycling day 2-day that was missed and the city message says put out all your stuff next week, but do they really mean it since our next recycling pick up is in 2 weeks? I think we need specificity.

• Dave July 30, 2012 (4:18 pm)

  Exactly what is wrong with this country is that when some people see union workers getting a good wage and benefits they don’t say “I want that too” like they used to. Now those same people say “screw those guys, I don’t get paid that much so no one should”. So we keep fighting and shooting each other while the billionaires laugh at how easily distracted we are.

  Pathetic.

• Panda July 30, 2012 (4:21 pm)

  More happy raccoons in my neighborhood this week!!!

• Gina July 30, 2012 (4:32 pm)

  Had an argument with friend about empty 6 pack of beer in cardboard carrier. He said that it would take up less room to put bottles in carrier in the recycling bin. My opinion was that flattening carrier, with bottles loose would take less room, because the bottles would settle in container. Wasted five minutes of our lives.

  If you know someone that lives east of I-5, north of I-90 and north of the ship canal–they have service from Cleanscapes, so still have service. SHA is still picking up, so if you have friends or neighbors that meet that criteria, time to drop by.

  You can drop off recycling free at the transfer station.

  http://www.seattle.gov/util/Services/Garbage/Recycling_&_Disposal_Stations/Rates/index.htm

• WSTroll July 30, 2012 (4:42 pm)

  I really think Mr. Sparkles is on to something. Someone should formally organize such a movement. I am not volunteering.

• Tammy July 30, 2012 (4:50 pm)

  It’s the City of Seattle who needs to address the problem of its residents, not the striking workers. We pay the city, not the workers directly. If the company Seattle contracts with is the problem, why can’t Seattle pick up a temporary extra contract with CleanScapes, who picks up trash for the other 50% of Seattle residences. They aren’t striking and those residents are getting their trash picked up just fine. Perhaps if we all bombard Dept of Fish/Wildlife and/or Animal Control with all the raccoon/rat issues over this, perhaps we residents can actually have a voice that will be heard. If I am to dump my trash anywhere, it should be at the offices of the Seattle Public Utilities.

• Seymour Noodnik July 30, 2012 (5:05 pm)

  Good going, this is the kind of a concise and clear report we would want from somebody who appoints themself to represent our community.

  Now if you could only practice same when, say, the weather gets bad and the bus is or isn’t running next winter.

• miws July 30, 2012 (6:19 pm)

  Seymour Noodnik, WTF?

  .

  Mike

• angelescrest July 30, 2012 (6:36 pm)

  My neighbor and I got together on this one. Now this was fun for two moms: divvying up the recycle, making sure the newspapers go into the yard waste, stashing big cardboard separately, securing another extra can for trash…I’m throwing lavender in the trash and food waste bins to stave off the scent. We both have dogs!
  Big smile!

• Don't Just Sit There July 30, 2012 (7:16 pm)

  The Senior VP for Waste Management is a resident of Scottsdale, AZ. I’m sure his neighborhood’s cans are emptied regularly, regardless of the bargaining agreement he has with his local labor organizations. Give him a call and let him know you don’t want your own garbage piling up while you’re paying for your service:
  -=-
  Duane C Woods
  (480) 419-6140
  -=-

• jiggers July 30, 2012 (7:26 pm)

  Oh the shtink of it all..

• flynlo July 30, 2012 (7:31 pm)

  What happens to all of the fines the city is going to collect from Waste Management. I’m sure that the city will credit our accounts with every cent of this money for our inconvenience at having no service, right?

• kayo July 30, 2012 (7:36 pm)

  Lavender in the trash is a great idea to help with odor. We have two big dogs and our garbage gets knocked over regularly by raccoons. Not a good combination along with warm weather and a missed pickup this week! Aargh.

• datamuse July 30, 2012 (7:44 pm)

  I’ve been wondering that myself, Dave.
  .
  I also want to point out, yet again, that that $98k figure isn’t the base pay—it’s pay plus benefits. The actual take home pay is quite a bit less.

• raincity July 30, 2012 (8:07 pm)

  Tammy has a good point. The City is responsible for picking up our trash regardless of whether the people they hired to do it are willing or not. The City Director would have means to terminate a contract if they are not in compliance?
  http://clerk.seattle.gov/~scripts/nph-brs.exe?d=CODE&s1=20.45.040.snum.&Sect5=CODE1&Sect6=HITOFF&l=20&p=1&u=/~public/code1.htm&r=1&f=G

• evergreen July 30, 2012 (8:40 pm)

  Here come the rats and racoons. This could become a huge mess.

• hmmm July 30, 2012 (9:24 pm)

  Another stupid strike

• LE July 30, 2012 (10:23 pm)

  Raincity, how that would work is indeed spelled out in the contract:
  .
  http://www.seattle.gov/util/groups/public/@spu/@garbage/documents/webcontent/spu01_005943.pdf
  .
  The contract is actually pretty interesting reading.

• Al July 30, 2012 (10:26 pm)

  How much trash do some people have? Ours isn’t even 1/4 full after a week. Yard waste more full but not problematic if I stop some yard work – gee darn. I say go unions! Keep up the work for all of us. We seem to have collectively decided that sticking up for workers benefits is bad…sad.

• JEM July 30, 2012 (10:33 pm)

  I rarely remember to even put my trash out each week so have no problem. Looking forward to cleaning out the basement and leaving plenty of extra bags next pickup. Saves me a dump run. Life is good.

• sven July 30, 2012 (11:06 pm)

  Darn, and I just took a bunch of stuff to the dump too.

  I wish recycling would go once a week. My recycle bin fills up way faster than the garbage. I know it’s free to leave out as much recycled stuff as you want, but it’s just a hassle when you can’t get it all in the container and have to find another way of keeping it safely by the can on the street.

• ttt July 30, 2012 (11:46 pm)

  I am not supportive of this strike. They make a fare wage for what they do. Most of them don’t even have to pick up the cans to dump them into the truck; a machine does that for them on the side of the truck. A teacher that has taught for over 16 years with a masters degree just makes less than they do in a year according to the base pay scale for WA teachers. Why do we value our garbage more than our kids? I will be cleaning every speck of garbage out of my house for them to pick up when they get back to work. We should be getting a break on our garbage bill for the interrupted service.

• m July 31, 2012 (5:32 am)

  This will soon become a public health hazard. Why does our useless mayor not become involved? When will he request the NG to start picking up the trash?

• JB Smith July 31, 2012 (7:17 am)

  We did receive GARBAGE, not recycle, pickup at our condo building on Monday, 7/30. Recycle should resume soon. Seems as though WM could have done a better job with the media with better spokespersons and more detail. The union is getting much more press.

  While I’m sure the union feels it is being tortured by WM, we did hear from a union member who indicated that drivers are paid just under $100,000 per year and were offered what sounded like at 4% increase over a multi-year contract…I don’t know many folks who are getting increases in wages of any type this year so perhaps they should have viewed this a bit differently in these economic times!! If they strike much longer, they will probably not make up lost wages for a long time…

• Faith4 July 31, 2012 (7:21 am)

  We also put lavender in yard waste cans to keep odor down. Ours was full & we just put it on the top, which seems to be helping. From comments above, will also put some in trash can.

  We may also try some rosemary we have in the yard.

  Now how long it will work is the question.

  Hope the strike is over soon. Coyotes out early running around perhaps enjoying people’s garbage?

• marcus ativalu July 31, 2012 (9:15 am)

  i just put it all in the garbage
  if they dont care niether do i
  fire and replace
  unions dont work anymore becuase republicans have lowerd the price of labor in this country

• Jim July 31, 2012 (12:24 pm)

  About 10 am received a Robocall by the Striking Drivers, no number was shown. I call City of Seattle about it and they said it was not their problem and I should contact Waste Management and I did via email. so said that these drivers are dipping so low. to bad that the City of Seattle has little concern about this as they contract this out and manage this company as a sub contractor.

• seattlecris July 31, 2012 (12:34 pm)

  Just heard on the news they are picking up in the south end today.. is that us?

  • WSB July 31, 2012 (1:26 pm)

    SC – we have heard scattered reports of sightings, but so far have not confirmed any residential pickups today, and all the info from both the city and WM says no residential pickups in Seattle today – still checking; who were you watching/listening to when you heard this? – Tracy

• margaritaville July 31, 2012 (12:54 pm)

  And temps are supposed to get over 80 degrees by Saturday. Not even lavender is going to cover the stench of those shrimp shells and lamb chop bones. These folks couldn’t strike in winter – perhaps they were looking for some time off in nice weather???

• Ms. E July 31, 2012 (1:11 pm)

  For those who say they only fill 1/4 of your bin each week – you must have the full sized bin. We have a micro bin – only big enough for one trash bag. If you’re not using your full bin, you’re overpaying. The microbin is about half the cost. With compost/yard waste and recycling, it’s totally doable. Unless the workers go on strike.

• elikapeka July 31, 2012 (1:55 pm)

  Garbage was just picked up in Sunrise Heights. Surprise!!

• Mich July 31, 2012 (1:58 pm)

  I saw one truck along 41st near Holden picking up garbage around 1pm… Put our garbage out just in case.

• MBH July 31, 2012 (2:05 pm)

  Garbage / recycling just picked up near 41st and Holden… Surprise. Bummer for me I think I missed them because I thought they were no picking up.

  • WSB July 31, 2012 (2:07 pm)

    That’s what they said … unfortunate. I don’t know if they’ve been through our neighborhood, but we’re a Tuesday zone too. I’ve started a separate story just to warn anybody who DOES happen to be home … TR

• LJ July 31, 2012 (2:28 pm)

  They picked up the garbage on 5400 block of 35th SW today. I’ve been out of work for over a year and because I’m older it’s really hard to find something. I’d be happy with a third of what they’re making.Oh well.

Sorry, comment time is over.