Some Striking Trash Truckers Return to Work

A 4-day-old strike that disrupted trash service for much of Orange County began to collapse Thursday, as union officials and refuse company executives made progress toward a contract agreement with at least one firm.

Signs of a possible settlement appeared early Thursday when strikers dismantled picket lines in front of some refuse company offices and county landfills. Some picketers who remained in place were less confrontational with trash trucks crossing the lines than on the first day of the walkout. By afternoon, some striking workers at one company returned to their jobs.

Uncollected trash continued to build Thursday in as many as 25 affected cities and unincorporated areas. But residents of at least six cities may get some relief today if striking workers at one company approve the new contract.

The pending agreement resulted from ongoing talks between union leaders, officials for the four waste-hauling companies hit by the strike, and a federal mediator who has tried to bring the parties together since the walkout. It came as some strikers 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. “If we don’t get in, we will be replaced.”

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. Also affected was Chino Hills in San Bernardino County. 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 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 deserve 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 some of their members 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.”

Strikers at Taormina Industries also were preparing to give up their dispute, with a formal vote expected at 9 a.m. today on whether to accept the contract they had turned down last week.

Taormina’s workers dismantled their picket line early Thursday outside the company’s offices in Anaheim, which are tucked into the northeast elbow where the 57 and 91 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 raising hourly pay from $12.90 to $16 over five years 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 the 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, the president of Taormina, defended the new 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,” said Vogt as he stood among company workers after the meeting.

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