Santa Ana officials were working Wednesday to catch up on trash and recycling pickup as the union representing Republic Services honors a picket line in Massachusetts.
Trash pickup on Wednesday was delayed, prompting city officials to announce that pickup would occur on “Thursday or later in the week.” Residents were advised to keep their trash bins out.
City officials said its waste pickup company “will implement an accelerated recovery schedule that includes working through the weekend to catch up on any missed collections as quickly as possible.”
It was unclear whether Republic intended to hire replacement workers or have management perform the work of employees honoring the East Coast picket line.
“This morning Teamsters from Massachusetts who have been on strike for a few days extended their picket line to Republic Services yards in Orange County and including Santa Ana,” said Adan Alvarez of Teamsters Local 396.
The local Republic employees are not on strike “but under their contract they have the right to honor picket lines and not cross them,” Alvarez said.
It was unclear how long the picket line will be extended to Orange County, Alvarez said.
Republic Services officials said the company was in contract negotiations with the union in Boston and “four other locations,” and its employees there “are engaged in a temporary work stoppage, and some have expanded their picketing to other company locations, including three facilities in Orange County.”
Republic officials said they are “making adjustments to our operations and working to resume regular service as quickly as possible.”