City Council Will Hold Hearing On Possible Strike At Sunset Park Recycling Facility

SUNSET PARK, BROOKLYN — The New York City Council will hold a hearing Tuesday about a possible strike at the Sims Municipal Recycling Facility, the city's largest recycling facility. (For coverage of the hearing and other Sunset Park news, click here to subscribe to Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.)

Workers at the facility say they want to unionize under Teamsters Local 210 but that Sims management won't acknowledge their union status.

The workers have threatened to strike, according to Teamsters, which could upend the place where Sims says "the majority of New York City’s commingled curbside material" is processed. Workers have also filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board, Teamsters said.

"Part of Sims’ contract with the city is, Sims committed to not having work stoppages or other labor problems," Teamsters spokesman Alex Moore told Patch. "I assume city council members will be asking Sims whether it thinks it’s living up to that contract."

A message left by Patch at Sims' Sunset Park facility was not immediately returned.

The council's Committee on Sanitation and Solid Waste Management will hold the hearing Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. An agenda on the city's website says it will discuss "the potential for a work stoppage at Sims Metal Management and its potential impact on residential recycling."

Teamsters will hold a press conference at 9 a.m. with facility workers before the city council hearing.

READ MORE

• Sunset Park Strike Could Target City's Largest Recycling Facility
• Teamsters Running Organizing Drive at Sims Recycling in Sunset Park

Image: Patch file photo