(Seattle, WA) – Waste Management continues to sabotage the bargaining process by placing conditions on resuming negotiations and refusing to commit to bargain in good faith.

Teamsters Local 117 reached out to the company through a federal mediator on Thursday and proposed that the parties meet on Saturday, July 28.

The Union agreed to take down picket lines on Monday if the company demonstrated a willingness to engage in meaningful bargaining on Saturday.

Waste Management would not commit to bargain in good faith. The company also attached conditions to Saturday’s meeting with the Union, including a demand that workers immediately forgo their lawful right to picket and provide a seven-day notice before resuming any picketing activity.

"In our last two meetings, Waste Management committed to bargaining in good faith and failed to do so,” said Tracey A. Thompson, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 117. “We're supposed to trust them now and take down the pickets? Before relinquishing our rights, we need a full-fledged commitment from the company to bargain in good faith.”

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