By Clifford L. Williams

Avisibly tired, but relieved negotiator, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums emerged last week after two days of back-to-back 12-hour negotiations to triumphantly announce the end of a 25-day old lockout of 481 garbage haulers.

    Using his skills as a brilliant statesman, Dellums was finally able to bring the Teamsters Local 70 Union and Waste Management, Inc. together to reach a tentative agreement, clearing the way for everyone to get back to the business at hand and clean up Oakland’s garbage.
    How he was able to get the parties to reach that resolution is unknown, and as far as the majority of Oakland residents are concerned, it’s irrelevant as long as their trash bins are emptied regularly post haste.
    As the month-long lock-out of Waste Management truck drivers concluded and the Teamsters’ ratification of the agreement were reached on Saturday, the haulers began working with Waste Management to ensure that the mess left in its wake was cleaned up.
    With ratification of the contract by the union, the City withdrew its request for a preliminary injunction and penalties for contempt, but reserved its right to seek damages or other legal remedies to compensate for costs and expenses incurred during the lockout.
    As part of the new five-year agreement, Waste Management cannot lock out workers, nor can the Union go on strike. Instead, both sides have committed to binding arbitration. Additionally, Waste Management will continue to cover the full health insurance premiums for workers, including potential annual increases of 12 percent. Union members will also be allowed to honor other picket lines.
    Workers will receive roughly five percent pay increases, meaning most drivers will earn between $70,000 and $74,000 annually. The new contract also makes it easier to fire employees for repeated safety violation, which drew mixed reviews among workers.
    At a press conference last week, Mayor Dellums, Oakland City Attorney John Russo, City Administrator Deborah Edgerly, Public Works Director Raul Godinez II, James Devlin, Area Vice President, Waste Management and Chuck Mack, Secretary/ Treasurer, Teamsters Local 70, all demonstrated their collective commitment to restore cleanliness to Oakland’s streets and neighborhoods.
    Dellums thanked Oakland residents and businesses for their patience and for being the City’s eyes and ears on the street to monitor the reality of the garbage situation. He credited the successful conclusion of the talks to collaboration between city agencies, the city’s legal staff, the deployment of litter enforcement officers, and data to support the court-ordered injunction.
   “We brought the full weight of this powerful municipality to bear on behalf of our fellow Alameda County communities and it worked,” said Dellums. “The two sides reached an agreement that allows Waste Management’s experienced drivers to resume working their routes and cleaning up our city.”
    In the weeks ahead, the city will continue to monitor Waste Management’s service to ensure Oakland is getting the service contracted for. The city will negotiate with Waste Management to fairly prorate garbage bills for the period that residents experienced disruption of service.
    Company spokeswoman Monica Devincenzi said July 26 that Waste Management will not charge customers for missed services and those who have already paid their summer bills will be provided refunds or credits for missed pickups. Residential garbage bills for the month of July are due at the end of September.
    Drivers returned to work on Monday and the city anticipates that it may take a week for Waste Management’s service to return to normal. Residents are reminded that with service fully restored and being provided on time, they should return to sorting materials into the proper cart for collection.
   “For Oakland to meet its goal of reducing the amount of waste going to landfills by 75 percent by 2010, the City needs your continued help,” said City Administrator Deborah Edgerly. “The grey cart is for recycling, the green cart is for yard trimmings and food scraps and the brown or burgundy cart is for garbage only.”
    Approximately 200,000 Waste Management customers throughout Oakland, Emeryville, Albany, Hayward, Newark and part of San Leandro, along with unincorporated areas of Alameda County, including Castro Valley and San Lorenzo, were affected by the lockout.
    Residents should continue to call the Recycling Hotline at (510) 238-7283 to report any collection problems.