Puget Sound's Waste Management gears up for possible strike. (Seattle: apartment complex, buy)

[70Ford]

The near-unanimous vote by members of Teamsters Local 174 is the first step toward a possible strike, which could ultimately shut down garbage and recycling collection for whole sections of the Puget Sound region.

Union vote authorizes garbage strike in King and Snohomish counties


Gee, what a stinky situation this could turn out to be. Welcome to the dirty side of garbage collection negotiations. It's a regular cesspool of rubble and dreck if you ask me. When people refuse to negotiate, it results in such a waste of time and resources. I just hope they don't muck around too long on this. It might lead to a sweeping amount of reform in regional trash removal, though.

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Incidently, these folks handle my apartment complex. You should see the bins at Christmas, OMG. Imagine if they struck for a few weeks.

ZOIKS!

[70Ford]

Local News | Waste Management trash haulers strike; 1 million customers affected | Seattle Times Newspaper

[AzDreamer]

I read the union did not vote on the latest offer, maybe there is a good reason for this but it seems odd. These workers seem as clueless as the Boeing strikers that chased the 2nd 787 line to Charleston.

[Ira500]

Waste Management is the largest garbage company in the US, and unlike Boeing, almost always rakes in a big profit. Their smaller competitors pay their employees more, and offer better benefits and working conditions.
We may live in a place that values software architects and code writers, but just wait till these stinking piles of garbage start heaping up.

[AzDreamer]

Originally Posted by Ira500

Waste Management is the largest garbage company in the US, and unlike Boeing, almost always rakes in a big profit. .

Whenever I hear of a company raking in big profits I wonder why nobody else has heard about this and bid up the price of the company stock. With all of us fretting over how we'll pay for retirement wouldn't some big dividend checks come in handy?

Unfortunately, these tips never pan out. The huge profits promised to us investors turn out to be a union negotiating tactic.

If you think about it for a minute it makes sense. If Waste Management is able to make huge profits and all they have to do is buy some trucks, hire some teamsters that drive around picking up money what stops me from starting a competing company?

[Ira500]

Originally Posted by AzDreamer

Whenever I hear of a company raking in big profits I wonder why nobody else has heard about this and bid up the price of the company stock. With all of us fretting over how we'll pay for retirement wouldn't some big dividend checks come in handy?

Unfortunately, these tips never pan out. The huge profits promised to us investors turn out to be a union negotiating tactic.

If you think about it for a minute it makes sense. If Waste Management is able to make huge profits and all they have to do is buy some trucks, hire some teamsters that drive around picking up money what stops me from starting a competing company?

I only go by actual earnings reports to find out what the earnings of a company are. In this case:
Waste Management Posts 44% Increase in 4Q Profit - FOXBusiness.com (http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/utilities/waste-management-posts--increase-proft-q/ - broken link)
Not too shabby.I wish I could figure out the stock market, even after I've been investing for almost 20 years. Companies announce that they're losing billions, and the stock price rises. Companies announce solid profits, and the stock price drops.
About what's stopping you from starting a competing company? I don't know. Maybe the Waste Management or Teamsters hired goons?

[AzDreamer]

Maybe we should look at more than one quarter's earnings before deciding if Waste Management meets our requirements for big profits.

4Q 2009 profits were up because 4Q 2008 profits were down 29%.

2009 full year profits were still less than 2008 and 2007.

Looks like my dream of finding a company making big profits will have to go on hold again.

Waste Management 4Q profit falls 29 percent (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/02/12/financial/f065032S65.DTL - broken link)

[jenlion]

I keep hearing bits and pieces on the radio about how "we" don't understand what's so unfair about it all. First they say the drivers make $60k/year, then they say "but you don't understand".

Anybody know what exactly it is that I don't understand? $50 to 60k to drive a truck and pick up trash doesn't sound so bad to me... why are they on strike? What is going on that's so bad?

[Ira500]

I think the main reason for the strike is that the company wants the workers to pay a much larger share of the cost of health benefits.

[Union Proud]

Look at the competition. Republic stocks went from $15 when they bought out Allied waste 15 months ago. The stock is worth $30 toady . For the year ended December 31, 2009, net income was $495.0 million, or $1.30 per diluted share, versus $73.8 million, or $0.37 per diluted share, for the comparable period in 2008.