Striking sanitation workers rallied Tuesday morning along picket lines they’ve walked since last week.
Republic Services Inc.’s (RSI) local drivers are represented by Highway and Local Motor Freight Employees Local Union No. 667. That group authorized a strike at the end of February for the company’s Memphis and Millington facilities.
In February, the union sought higher wages “that keep up with inflation” and said RSI refuses to recognize Juneteenth and April 4th, (the date of Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination), as holidays.
When the union drivers went on strike April 12th, they were also protesting the on-the-job death of a local RSI employee, killed in an incident at an RSI landfill on March 30th.
“Our members at Republic are fighting back and refusing to back down,” James E. Jones III, Local 667 president, said in a statement last week. “It’s unbelievable that Republic Services would demand workers to surrender their safety bonus just days after a worker was killed on the job. … This tragedy is a reminder of how much work needs to be done to fulfill Dr. King’s dream of justice and equality.”
Memphis City Council chairman Martavius Jones, vice chairman JB Smiley Jr., and member Jana Swearengen-Washington issued a letter in support of the workers Monday.
In the letter to local RSI general manager Jason West, the three said they supported higher wages for Memphis employees, in line with those in Little Rock and Nashville. They also hoped local employees could maintain safety bonuses as part of their overall compensation.
”We are writing to you advocating for safer conditions for the employees of Republic Services in the wake of the recent tragic death of an employee at the Shelby County landfill at 5494 Malone Road,” reads the letter. “We have been made aware of numerous grievances filed with Republic Services regarding the exposure of workers to dangerous working conditions, such as contact with bodily fluids and needles, among other health and safety concerns. More safety practices must be put in place to prevent such tragedies from occurring.”