Teamsters Local 120 truck drivers from Eureka Recycling announced that they had voted Sunday to authorize strike action. Although the authorization does not authorize a strike, it opens the door to a possible work stoppage. This could be a powerful salvo in contract negotiations for St. Paul’s residential recycled materials nonprofit.
The non-profit recycling organization employs 32 drivers and sorts 400 to 450 tonnes of recyclable material each day at its Material Recovery Facility, Minneapolis. Eureka processes materials from St. Paul and Roseville as well as Lauderdale, Lauderdale, and Shoreview. Minneapolis has its own residential collection and is subject to a separate processing contract.
Monday’s Eureka officials stated that they had reached an agreement with the labor union over most contract items. However, there was still disagreement about whether retirement contributions would be paid to Eureka’s 403b plan or the multi-employer union pension fund.
“Eureka determined that Eureka’s MEP would place the union in serious financial danger and could be detrimental for Eureka Recycling union workers,” Lynn Hoffman, Eureka co-president, said in a written statement Monday. “We believe our current retirement plan offers a better alternative.”
Teamsters Local 120 posted a photo of 26 workers gathered in the union hall to its Twitter account Sunday afternoon with the caption “STRIKE WATCH!” A majority of Eureka Recycling members voted today in favor to authorize a strike. “We are UNITED in holding all companies accountable for providing the best retirement and job security possible for our members.”
Troy Gustafson was the business agent who gave the quote. He could not be reached for comment.
Officials at Eureka Recycling refused to interview Hoffman, but they did forward Hoffman’s written statement.
It reads, “We believe and support the right of our employees to organize and bargain collectively and have always maintained a relation of mutual trust and respect for Teamsters Local 120.” “We are deeply disappointed by Sunday’s vote to authorise a strike, as there are other routes to resolution.”
Hoffman stated that the agreement between the nonprofit and Local 120 was “grounded” in a labor agreement. Strikes and lockouts are prohibited under the current contract. She wrote that “we are required to arbitrate” if an agreement is not reached.
She stressed that there are no changes in the horizon for recycling services, and no strike date has been established. She said that Eureka met Monday morning with Teamster officials and that both sides were open to continuing negotiations this week.
Eureka collects all St. Paul’s residential waste, single-family homes and multi-family properties. The contract expires April 30. Last year, Eureka was the only company that responded to St. Paul’s request for proposals. The next contract negotiations are expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
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