About 75 members of an Elgin-based Teamsters union local will report to work Tuesday after failing to act on a threatened strike.þþLocal 330 President Dominic Romanazzi said after a union meeting Monday night that officials would again ask the company to return to the bargaining table.þþHowever, representatives of Waste Management Inc. walked out of a meeting Monday morning after five minutes, union officials said.þþMembers had previously authorized leadership to call a strike, and Thursday they rejected two offers from Waste Management. It is up to union leaders to set a strike date.þþMost union members would not discuss what happened at Monday night's meeting, which lasted less than an hour.þþÿWe have a lot of young guys, but nobody wants to go out on strike,ÿ said Craig Perrin, 52, who has been a union member for 30 years.þþA strike could affect an estimated 39,000 residential and business customers in the far northwest suburbs, although the union put the numbers of customers at more than twice that figure.þþWaste Management said garbage pickup would be made as usual, regardless of a strike.þþÿWaste Management is prepared to offer its customers service,ÿ said Bill Plunkett, a company spokesman. ÿWe will be pooling additional people and resources to do the job if [union members] go out on strike. We hope that won't happen.ÿþþPublic works officials in Elgin and Carpentersville, with residential contracts served by Waste Management and Local 330, said they were guaranteed by the company that garbage would be picked up on schedule, which is done in parts of each town five days a week.þþElgin has about 27,000 residential Waste Management customers; Carpentersville has about 8,000. Another 2,800 business customers in about a dozen other northwest suburbs are served by Local 330, Plunkett said.þþAbout 3,300 Chicago-area Teamsters struck for nine days in October 2003 before approving a five-year contract. The strike was against the Chicago Refuse Haulers Association, including Waste Management and 16 other companies.þþÿWe're looking to put together a contract, and Waste Management seems to want to orchestrate a conflict,ÿ Romanazzi said in a statement after the morning meeting. The Waste Management spokesman said the company reiterated its ÿlast, best and finalÿ offer. ÿWe hope the union votes again,ÿ said Plunkett, the company spokesman. ÿWe're optimistic they will recognize the value of the contract that's been offered to them.ÿþþWaste Management said it is offering the drivers/haulers an 18 percent raise over three years, from $20.25 an hour to $23.91 in the third year. The workers would get an 8.5 percent increase in the first year.þþThe company also wants the workers to switch from a union-based health-care plan to a companywide Cigna insurance policy.þþBy overwhelming margins, Local 330 membership voted Thursday to reject two contract proposals, one containing the Cigna insurance coverage, and one without.þþUnion officials charged that Waste Management is trying to force the union to accept an inferior health insurance plan and increase the employees' share of the cost of coverage.þþThe union believes the wage offer the company has proposed is about 6.7 percent in the first year when increased insurance costs are factored in.þþLocal 330 wants parity with other locals who already have contracts with Waste Management, union officials said. Local 330's contract expired April 30.þþ
Source: Chicago Tribune
