MILWAUKEE, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Teamsters Local 200 officials have agreed to allow Waste Management of Wisconsin employees to vote Sunday on a last, best and final offer the company made Sept. 10, it was announced.
Sunday’s balloting will be employees’ first chance to vote on the contract proposal Waste Management made 10 days ago.
Waste Management’s proposal would create a new 401(k) pension plan and release the company and employees from the Teamsters’ failing Central States Pension Fund, company spokeswoman Lynn Morgan said. In March, Central States was forced to declare itself to be in “critical” condition under the criteria established by the U.S. Treasury Department for underfunded pension plans. “This contract provides Waste Management employees greater retirement security and gets the company out from under bottomless liability for pension fund expenses,” Morgan said.
On Friday, union members rejected a modified version of the contract they’ll take up Sunday. The package voted down Friday included changes aimed at shielding retirees and senior employees from cuts in pension benefits that trustees of the Central States Pension Fund have vowed to impose when Waste Management is allowed to withdraw from the Fund, Morgan said. The company agreed to modify its offer without increasing the total wage and benefit package proposed in the company’s Sept. 10 last, best and final offer, she noted.
While Waste Management officials hope employees will ratify the company’s original proposal Sunday, Morgan said the company is prepared to move on if the contract is voted down, adding that “no better offer is coming.” Waste Management is preparing to recruit new employees, she said, and has placed recruitment ads that will begin appearing Sunday.
The company has been deploying crews of experienced Waste Management employees as temporary replacement workers. (They are not contract or temporary employees.)
Teamsters Local 200 represents about 240 truck drivers, equipment operators and mechanics employed at Waste Management’s Milwaukee area operations. The company provides waste collection and recycling services for an estimated 102,500 homes and 16,330 businesses and institutions locally, and provides disposal services for waste that municipal crews and other companies collect from homes and facilities throughout the metropolitan area.
