Montgomery County Trash Collectors Strike
Tuesday, September 10, 2013(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
Trash in parts of Montgomery County went uncollected Monday and Tuesday
when county residential trash haulers struck to protest the use of an
immigration enforcement threat by Potomac Disposal against the employees
-- who are mostly Latino -- currently negotiating for affordable health care and
a fair wage increase. About 50 Potomac Disposal workers were on strike Monday
and Tuesday from the 57-member crew contracted to pick up residential trash in
Montgomery County. The strike disrupted residential trash service to the
Potomac, Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Rockville, Wheaton, and Silver Spring
neighborhoods that normally expect Monday or Tuesday trash, recycling and yard
waste pick-up. The striking workers -- members of Laborers Local 657 -- are
demanding that Potomac Disposal managers rescind their immigration enforcement
threat and return to the negotiating table in good faith. "After employees
refused to back down from demands for affordable health care, they reported for
work last Friday and found new I-9 forms clipped to their time cards along with
a demand that all employees bring in identifying documents to re-verify their
immigration status," reports MidAtlantic LIUNA. "Workers perceived this act as
an implicit threat, and are justifiably upset that their employer would counter
their reasonable request for health care by seizing upon their immigration
status as a weapon in contract negotiations." The workers have offered to return
to work on Wednesday but will not make the decision on whether to do so until
they meet with management Wednesday morning.