Residents in Pasadena, Severna Park, Odenton and Laurel whose recycling and yard waste collections are affected by the ongoing strike by some of Anne Arundel County’s contracted sanitation employees will get makeup collections Saturday, the county’s Department of Public Works said.
Crews from Gunther Refuse Service, Inc. and MBG Refuse Service will provide recycling collections for this week’s Tuesday, Thursday and Friday customers in the affected areas, the department said in a news release. Yard waste collections will be completed on Saturday as resources allow.
“We are so grateful that these local businesses and their employee teams have stepped in to help their neighbors during this situation,” said DPW Director Karen Henry. “We appreciate the patience and flexibility of all of our customers as we work to resume curbside collection services in affected communities.”
On Monday, Gunther and MBG crews will pick up trash on residents’ usual collection days. Recycling and yard waste will be taken within two days of the normal collection days. The department is asking affected residents to put out trash, recycling and yard waste on their normal days and leave it on the curb until it’s collected.
Only households in service areas 5, 8, and 15, which include Pasadena, Severna Park, Odenton and Laurel, are affected. Residents can identify their service area by entering their address on the county’s Find My Collection Day feature.
There are 37,605 households in the affected service areas, or 22% of countywide customers, according to Matt Diehl, a DPW spokesperson.
Recycling and yard waste collections in these areas were temporarily suspended Friday after the department learned of a possible strike by Teamsters Local 570, the union representing employees of Ecology Services. The company operates under a contract with Anne Arundel County to provide recycling and yard waste pick up.
The strike began Wednesday morning when more than 70 unionized employees gathered to protest what they said was the company’s refusal to address unsafe working conditions and unfair wages. Frustrations lie with Ecology Services’ management, which offered a 38-cent per hour wage increase and did not address safety issues, the Teamsters national union said in a news release. The union contends the company’s trucks are “dangerously ill-equipped” and lack air conditioning, proper seating and seatbelts.
This summer, an employee suffered a severe head injury after falling from a truck due to heat exhaustion and lack of water, the union said.
A conclusion to the Teamsters Local 570 strike is “open-ended,” Sean Cedenio, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 570, said Wednesday.
