Sanitation workers threaten to strike

Jace Radke

Monday, March 22, 1999 | 11:01 a.m.

The first step to a possible garbage strike was taken on Sunday night as Silver State Disposal workers voted to walk out as a last resort if about 70 truck-driving jobs are subcontracted.

"The vote tonight was for a strike, but only when it is legal," Teamsters Local 631 Vice President Derek Cardwell said. "A message was sent tonight and that is that the union is unified, and if all else fails we will strike."

On Friday U.S. District Judge Philip Pro issued a temporary restraining order against a strike and Silver State subcontracting the transfer department jobs until both sides meet with an arbitrator.

A Silver State spokesman expressed disappointment after hearing about the strike vote.

"We felt very good after the court decision," Lee Haney, with Rogich Communications Group said. "Of the 94 percent who show up for work every day, their lives aren't going to be adversely affected."

Haney said Silver State officials don't believe this is an issue about which a strike may be called.

"There's a no-strike clause in their contract. They are not supposed to strike unless they can prove unfair labor practices," Haney said.

At issue are the jobs of about 70 drivers in Silver State's transfer department. The drivers make about $18 an hour to haul trash from the Las Vegas Valley to the landfill in Apex, but Specialty Transportation Services, a St. Louis-based company, is scheduled to take over the transfer department on April 5.

Haney said it was purely a business decision to use the outside company for transfer work.

"It's not economical for us to do this in-house," she said. "That's not our core business."

About 700 Silver State employees packed the Teamsters Local 631 union hall at 700 N. Lamb Blvd. Sunday night, and after about an hour they emerged saying that they were prepared for war.

"To say this was a message to Silver State is an understatement," said one transfer driver with four years of experience who identified himself only as Jay for fear of retribution. "Could the city survive if the 1,200 Silver State workers walked?

"Probably not, unless the residents got up at 5 a.m. and hauled the garbage themselves."

Several union members, who asked not to be fully identified to protect their jobs, said they felt that Silver State has underestimated the unity of its workers.

"They thought that they would be able to push 70 workers out and the other 1,100 of us wouldn't care," said a neighborhood garbage man, also known as a leecher, who identified himself as Kevin.

"We're making a stand now because this affects us all, so we came here tonight to prepare for a possible strike. We're getting our ducks in a row."

Silver State has said that the decision to subcontract the jobs is final and that workers with seniority can move to jobs in other divisions like neighborhood hauling. Union members say there are problems with that plan.

"It will create a domino effect and jobs will be lost in other departments," Cardwell said. "All 1,200 workers realize that if some of those 70 transfer drivers are given jobs as mechanics in another department, someone will be losing a job to make room for them."

Haney said those who will be affected, ultimately, are the casual workers called on an "as-needed" basis. Another problem is the ability of transfer drivers to perform other jobs at Silver State, union members said.

"Some of these guys have 15 years of seniority, but they're in their 50s," Jay said. "I'm still young enough and in good enough shape that I can go back to hanging off trucks and picking up garbage, but some of these guys won't be able to. When I first started as a leecher I lost about 30 pounds in the first couple of weeks."