Trash Collection Resumes In Seal Beach As East Coast Strike Continues

SEAL BEACH, CA — Trash collection in Seal Beach has resumed after workers walked off the job last week in solidarity with a nationwide strike calling for better wages and other benefits.

Seal Beach city officials said workers with Republic Services, which is the city's contracted trash collection company, will be focusing Monday on picking up last week's garbage.

"Regular Monday collection routes will be delayed, so customers are advised to leave their containers out if they are not serviced today," Seal Beach city officials said in a statement.

Work stoppages began in Boston on July 1, with more than 400 trash collectors represented by the labor union, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, walking off the job last week to strike in favor of higher wages, better health insurance and pension benefits.

Since then, the movement has spread to several other cities across the country, including Philadelphia, Los Angeles and Seal Beach, with workers walking off the job in solidarity.

While many of those workers are not technically on strike, including Republic Services workers, they considered working tantamount to “crossing a picket line.”

Seal Beach officials thought Republic Service workers would return after a few days off the job.

But on Friday, concerns were growing about when trash collections would actually resume.

To help curb the growing pileups of garbage in the meantime, Republic Services had a 40-yard trash container dropped off last week at the city's public works yard.