Will local garbage pickup be affected by Teamsters strike at Hawks Prairie dump?
Republic Services workers at the Thurston County Waste and Recovery Center, represented by Teamsters Local 252, went on strike early Wednesday morning over wages and benefits.
However, Thurston County does not anticipate any disruptions in garbage pickup. Trash and recycling collections are done by different workers who don’t work for Republic.
“There’s no interruption in services for garbage pickup. Garbage pickup is done through LeMay or the city of Olympia for Thurston County,” one representative told The Olympian.
“So at this time, we have no interruption in services at the Waste and Recovery Center. We don’t anticipate any.”
The City of Olympia made an emergency plan in case the strike begins to affect access to the waste facility.
Spokesperson Carrie McCausland told The Olympian on Wednesday, “We understand planning has been done to prepare for emergency-based impacts to site access. If the strike continues, we’d expect those plans would be put in place as needed, but can’t really speculate on when or how that would happen.”
Roughly 15 to 20 members of Teamsters Local 252 began picketing at 6 a.m. Wednesday. The union cited insufficient wages, benefits and labor protections as reasons for the picket.
“Republic Teamsters are demanding a contract with improved wages, better benefits and stronger labor protections. The multi-billion-dollar waste giant has refused to give workers a fair deal,” the Teamsters said in a news release.
The Thurston-Mason-Lewis Central Labor Council said in a statement posted to their website that Republic’s wages and health insurance plan are not competitive compared to other local sanitation employers.
Local 252 told the Central Labor Council, “Republic acknowledges its wage schedule is several dollars below its competitors … as well as the fact that its health insurance plan is not as comprehensive as the Teamsters Plan enjoyed by Local 25 members at other sanitation employers throughout the region. Yet the company still refuses to agree to provide the same wages or health care.”
Union members in Lacey joined Republic employees already striking in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Georgia and California. According to Teamsters spokesperson Matt McQuaid, roughly 300 Republic employees in Seattle and Bellevue are honoring picket lines by refusing to report to work, though they are not going on strike.
McQuaid said that the duration of the strike will depend on the company’s willingness to address employees’ concerns. “You know, if the company addresses our concerns, this strike will be over quickly, and if they do not, then it won’t be. It’s entirely up to them.”
While the county denied that the strike would impact on trash collection, McQuaid said the Lacey Transfer Station remains a critical component in waste processing in Thurston County. He said the strike could have long-term consequences.
“The Transfer Station is pretty critical to the operation of waste processing, recycling throughout the county. So in the long term, I’m not sure how it’s going to function without that center being functional,” he said.
This story was originally published July 9, 2025 at 12:42 PM.