Striking Trash Haulers Fired, File Complaints with NLRB and MontCo

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)After Unity Disposal and Recycling fired striking workers yesterday, the Laborers’ union filed complaints with the National Labor Relations Board and Montgomery County Council. “Striking workers have certain legal protections that the Company violated when it fired the strikers -- a total of at least 47 workers so far,” reports the Laborers, which is demanding reinstatement of the workers. The Laborers’ also says that Unity may have improperly sub-contracted some of its Montgomery County garbage collection work and have filed a complaint with the Montgomery County Council. The sub-contracted workers have reported that they are being paid the state’s $7.25 minimum wage, rather than the $13.95 living wage mandated by County law, and may have not received appropriate safety and operational training before they were sent out into County neighborhoods. The strikes will continue Friday. photo by Nicole Duarte/Mid-Atlantic Laborers