Trash Workers Reconsidering Deal at 2 Firms

A 4-day-old walkout that disrupted trash service for much of Orange County began to collapse Thursday as union leaders and officials of one refuse company agreed to let striking workers reconsider a contract offer they’d rejected a week ago.

Workers at another waste hauling firm also were poised to vote again on the original contract. But talks supervised by a federal mediator between union representatives and the remaining two companies ended without action as uncollected trash continued to build Thursday in as many as 25 affected cities and unincorporated areas.

Movement on two of the four contracts came as members of Teamsters Local 396 began to realize they could lose their jobs to nonunion drivers.

“You can’t always get what you want,” said Anthony Raimo, 33, a driver from Covina for Taormina Industries of Anaheim, whose union employees were scheduled to vote on the contract offer at 9 a.m. today. “If we don’t get in, we will be replaced.”

Taormina officials said residential collection could resume as early as today in its service area, which includes Anaheim, Brea, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Placentia, Villa Park and Yorba Linda, and Chino Hills in San Bernardino County.

The strike began Monday when 700 to 800 drivers, mechanics and maintenance workers represented by Teamsters Local 396 walked off their jobs at Taormina, CR&R;, Rainbow Disposal and Waste Management Inc.

So far, the job action has hampered trash collection for more than 400,000 Orange County households and as many as 35,000 businesses. Even in cities generally unaffected by the strike, some residents whose apartment complexes or community associations are served by one of the four companies were without service.

County officials said Thursday that the amount of trash being dumped at the county’s three landfills is 30% to 50% below the normal daily average of 20,000 tons.

Three days before the walkout, union members--against the advice of their leadership--voted down a proposed contract that would have increased their pay from $12.90 an hour to $16 an hour over five years, with a $1-an-hour raise in the first year. Some drivers have said they deserved an initial raise of $6 an hour in the first year, plus subsequent increases.

As the strike moved into its fourth day Thursday, CR&R; strikers abandoned their picket line in Stanton and headed for a meeting at an undisclosed location. Workers on other picket lines said they believed striking employees of CR&R; and other companies were about to accept the rejected contract.

David Fahrion, a division president of CR&R;, said the rejected contract offer is still on the table, but the company will rescind it by midnight Saturday unless the offer is accepted.

“Our last, best and final offer is our last, best and final offer,” Fahrion said. “Now it’s up to them.”

Taormina workers dismantled their picket line early Thursday outside the company’s offices in Anaheim, which are tucked in the northeast elbow where the Orange and Riverside freeways meet. By early afternoon, the strikers entered Taormina property to review the contract offer with company officials.

Union officials declined to comment, but rank-and-file workers said they believed the contract would be approved today. Some Taormina workers returned to work by Thursday afternoon--a day after company officials announced they would advertise for permanent replacements.

Workers who were willing to reconsider the previous contract said the fear of losing their jobs was the main motivation for giving up, even though they remained dissatisfied with the wage offer. Companies affected by the strike were steadily replacing drivers with supervisors and employees drawn from other departments. They also were preparing to hire people from outside.

“I think everybody is going in [to negotiate] because of the economics,” said Raul Calvillo, 43, a union mechanic from Fullerton. “You got people who are paid real low, and by the time they’re on strike for a week, that did it.”

Thomas J. Vogt, president of Taormina, defended the pending contract, saying the discussions with union negotiators addressed many of the workers’ concerns.

“I hope these individuals feel better about the offer. I think we’re entering a new, positive chapter in our relationship,” Vogt said as he stood among company workers after the meeting.

In another sign of progress, a 2-day-old sickout at Waste Management’s Irvine station ended Thursday morning. Trucks from the station pick up recycling and green waste, such as grass clippings, in Irvine and four south Orange County cities.

On Tuesday, company officials said 47 out of 123 workers did not report to work. The next day, 27 workers called in sick after the employees were warned they could lose their jobs. Normally, five or six employees call in sick on a work day, company officials said.

“Our South County office is fully staffed and operational,” Bob Coyle, Waste Management vice president, said Thursday. “We are back to normal there.”

A threatened strike at Solag Disposal also appeared to have been averted Thursday after 85 drivers showed up for work, although they did not drive their regular routes and left trash uncollected in portions of six South County cities. Solag is a subsidiary of CR&R.;

Fahrion said the workers showed up despite earlier threats to expand the walkout. However, they spent the day reviewing the contract offer with union officials and a federal mediator. They finally agreed to return to their jobs today.

Companies that appeared furthest from settlement were Waste Management and Rainbow Disposal, where union members were vowing to be the last to return to work.

Waste Management officials met late Thursday afternoon with federal mediator Juan Carlos Gonzalez, who has been trying to bring the companies and the union back to the bargaining table.

Coyle, the chief negotiator for Waste Management, said he was not optimistic about a settlement unless the union can produce a “great revelation.” He said the company has withdrawn its last offer.

As Coyle headed to his meeting with Gonzalez, strikers at Rainbow Disposal in Huntington Beach held their ground along the picket line. At midday, about 100 walked tight circles across four driveways at the company’s yard. When cars and unmarked trucks arrived, the picket line would part to let the vehicles through.

But when trucks bearing Rainbow’s insignia neared, the picketers stayed in the driveway for up to two minutes before allowing the trucks to pass. Most of the time they chanted and jeered.

The workers vowed that they were not ready to compromise despite indications of possible settlements at CR&R; and Taormina. And they laughed at threats of being replaced.

“Where are they going to get drivers? Who’s going to work for those wages?” said Armando Duarte, a picket line captain. He was almost drowned out by strikers chanting in Spanish: “Drivers united will never be defeated.”

Unlike the other three companies, where drivers earn $12.90 an hour regardless of seniority, Rainbow has a graduated scale that begins at $11.05 per hour and caps after five years at $12.90.

Duarte, who started at the firm about 18 months ago, said he was making $11.35 an hour to drive a nonmechanized truck alone, which means he empties trash cans by hand.

Jose Garduno, 49, of Midway City said: “Even our customers say we should be paid better.”

*

Times staff writers David McKibben and Mike Anton contributed to this report.