Trash Haulers Strike for Fired Worker

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)

Trash in parts of Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Wheaton, and Columbia went uncollected yesterday when Montgomery and Howard County residential trash haulers struck for the reinstatement of a worker who was fired after speaking up during a union-busting meeting Friday evening. Unity Disposal and Recycling is a waste hauling company that holds contracts with Montgomery and Howard counties, and is not affiliated with Potomac Disposal. Potomac Disposal workers held an unrelated strike on September 9-11 (Montgomery County Trash Collectors Strike 9/10 UC). About 70 Unity workers struck Tuesday, 80 percent of the workforce that services county contracts. The strike disrupted residential trash service to the Bethesda, Chevy Chase, Wheaton, and Columbia neighborhoods that normally expect Tuesday trash pick-up. The workers were in the midst of organizing a union in their workplace when the company held a captive-audience meeting on Friday “to bust their organizing efforts,” reports Nicole Duarte of the Mid-Atlantic Laborers. “One of the worker leaders who spoke out against the intimidation was fired Monday, prompting the strike. The workers are demanding the reinstatement of the worker who was terminated and recognition of their union.”