South Florida Biz Journal: Allied Waste/BFI Win Teamsters Contracts

South Florida Biz Journal: Allied Waste/BFI Win Teamsters Contracts

December 30, 2005

More than 450 Teamsters at Allied Waste/BFI in Florida, Georgia and Alabama have won first contracts that include pay raises and a new wage structure.

The agreements for waste workers come after a year and a half of negotiations, the Teamsters said, Monday.

The contracts, which include grievance procedures, cover seven different units in Pensacola, Fort Walton Beach, Atlanta, and Brewton and Mobile, Ala.

They are significant to South Florida, though, because Fort Lauderdale-based Republic Services is the No. 3 solid waste management company in the United States, behind Houston-based Waste Management and Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Allied. Also, last week, Florida East Coast Railway extended its agreement with the Teamsters.

"I want to congratulate these workers for standing strong during the past 18 months," Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa said. "These contracts are a testament to their courage and determination, and a major step forward in our battle to raise living standards for waste workers across the South."

The article originally appeared in theSouth Florida Business Journal on December 26, 2005, and was written by John T. Fakler.