Republic on three day delay

April 19, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

YOUNGSTOWN

Republic Services/Allied Waste said Thursday that the company is operating on a three-day delay and focusing its trash-collection services on municipalities with contracts, businesses, hospitals and schools.

Douglas Dunn, general manager of Republic in Youngstown, where the company serves more than 100,000 customers in the Mahoning Valley and western Pennsylvania, said subscription customers, those in residential areas with individual contracts, can expect a one-week delay in trash collection.

Republic is operating with about 40 regional supervisors and nonunion employees from across the country, after workers with Teamsters Local 377, which represents Youngstown workers, went on strike March 27.

Typically, Dunn said the company has more than 80 drivers on the roads to pick up trash.

Though Dunn said subscription customers are scattered throughout the region, most individual customers are in Austintown, Boardman and Poland, where Republic has not yet been able to make trash pickups since Monday.

Subscription customers can call 800-437-1123 to request service. The company also will credit accounts for any delay in collection services.

For municipalities with contracts, such as Liberty, Campbell, Cortland and Girard, the company was working on Wednesday pickups Thursday. Republic will not be able to collect recyclables anywhere for the time being.

Dunn added that work is expected to continue through Saturday.

The union and Republic are expected to meet for another bargaining session Tuesday. At issue, according to Local 377, are unfair labor practices, while the company claims the union refuses to negotiate contract issues such as those relating to wages and retirement benefits.