Garbage Haulers * USA - Approve strike authorization

Hundreds of unionized garbage haulers in King and Snohomish counties voted Sunday to give their top negotiator the authority to call a strike if a contract dispute cannot be settled later this week

Seattle,WASH,USA -The Seattle Times, by Amy Martinez -29 March 2010: ... The authorization means a strike could begin as soon as midnight Wednesday, when contracts covering garbage haulers for more than 1 million local homes and businesses expire... A strike would affect about half the homes in Seattle. Allied Waste serves about 100,000 homes and 8,000 commercial customers in King County... A federal mediator has been called in to help with the negotiations Monday through Wednesday... The Teamsters want assurances that their wages won't be cut to make up for shortages in their pension funds, Gonzales said. "I have seen language on the table from both companies we can't agree to — language that allows them to cut our wages in unlimited fashion," he said... Lang said Waste Management's proposal does not include wage cuts and is worth more than $100,000 annually in pay and benefits for the average worker. "We think the union's demand is unrealistic given the economy," she said... (Photo from msnbcmedia: Garbage hauler Frank Treto heads back to his collection truck after tagging a garbage bin that contained recyclable material in a Seattle neighborhood)