The word “solidarity” is often heard in the labor movement. But putting solidarity into practice is so much harder than giving a speech or singing a song.  Just ask the 311 members of ILWU Local 6 who work at Waste Management in Alameda County. A majority of the workers are women, and many are single moms who earn $11 an hour. Beginning in early July, they endured over three weeks on the picket line and mounted an impressive solidarity action to support 500 of their co-workers from the Teamsters Union who were locked out on July 2.

“It’s been really tough,” says Lola Hall. “We didn’t choose this fight but it’s a fight that we have to win.” Paul has been with the union effort at Waste Management from the beginning. She believes that all three unions representing workers at the Alameda county waste hauler share a common fate when it comes to dealing with their powerful employer. Teamster members drive the trucks carrying garbage, yard-waste and recycling. ILWU members operate the recycling program, sanitary landfill, and provide customer service, billing and other clerical duties. A group of 95 mechanics who maintain the equipment are represented by the Machinists union. Together, they make up a workforce of nearly 900. Their employer is Waste Management, a powerful global company that earned more than a billion dollars in profit last year; profits are up 19% this quarter.

Waste Management is Tough

Waste Management has a reputation for playing hardball with unions and environmentalists—and they have a long record of criminal, civil and administrative fines, penalties, and convictions to prove it.

Just two days after the Teamster contract expired on June 30th, Waste Management officials stunned workers by locking out 500 Teamster drivers. The lockout posed some serious challenges for the ILWU workers. They had no warning, no time to prepare, no chance to save a little money or look around for other work. For the union, it meant there was no time to develop a strategy and battle plan. But going without a paycheck was the biggest fear for most workers.

“Some of us make a little more money,
 but a lot of our members were already living on the edge before the lockout,” says Cissy Torrez who works under the Local 6 clerical contract and has been with Waste Management for 31 years. “It was hard and a little scary at first, but we decided as a group that we had to take a stand because is was so unfair.”

Taking a stand meant walking off the job and onto the picket line, which happened on July 2nd. Unlike the Teamsters who were locked out and couldn’t work, 300 ILWU members volunteered to give up their paychecks and join the picket line. And unlike the Teamsters, the ILWU workers were ineligible for unemployment benefits.

“That was really hard,” said Xiomara Martinez who works at the recycling operation, “but we had to do the best we could, and we couldn’t let the company divide us by having some work while others were locked out…we had to stand together.”

Leaders and Stewards Were Key

Local 6 Stewards and workplace leaders held many meetings and took responsibility for talking with co-workers individually and in small groups to explain what was at stake and why it was so important to stick together and show unity to management. Their hard work and long hours delivered impressive results, with almost everyone honoring the picket line for the first week. Most workers stayed strong and continued to honor the line through the second week. Mounting financial pressure forced more workers to cross after the second week but over 90% were still honoring the picket line after suffering 3 weeks without a paycheck.

“I’m really proud that so many people are standing up and being strong for so long,” says Jose Martinez, Chief Steward at the landfill.

For most of the workers, this was their first experience with a lockout or picket line. And the lowest-wage workers from the recycling department mounted one the strongest showings of solidarity, despite the severe economic hardship to their families.

“It was really hard because we had to pay our bills, and many of us make so little money,” said Juan Carlos Cruz who does recycling work and brought his six year-old daughter Viana to the union hall. Despite the severe hardship, Juan and his co-workers held the line and stood strong.

Solidarity Dollars

Financial support from the ILWU and other unions helped ease the burden on workers. The ILWU International contributed $10,000 with another $20,000 from the Longshore Division. Local 34 members contributed $10,000. Local 10 sent $11,000 in contributions and they have committed to contribute an additional $10,000 for each month the lockout continues. Other locals were also mailing checks as the Dispatcher went to press. Local 6 workers made their own direct appeals to AFL-CIO officials who happened to be attending a Diversity Conference in San Francisco - raising another $1,200. The grocery workers union sent $5,000 in food certificates for workers to redeem at local union markets. The Alameda Labor Council called banks and utilities, telling creditors to give workers some slack during the job action. Bags of groceries were distributed at the Local 6 union hall, and a hardship fund was organized to provide emergency cash to families in crisis.

Lessons Learned

While ILWU workers had no idea that management was planning to lockout the Teamsters, the company was following a carefully developed anti-union game plan.

Waste Management has built a nationwide network of strikebreakers they call their “Green Team.” They recruit and develop this team of strikebreakers from their operations around the country. Scabs are issued bright green t-shirts, and receive special perks and benefits throughout the year, with more perks and double-time when they’re flown-in to break strikes or staff a lock-out. The Green Team allows management to staff-up quickly during a dispute. The company expects a flood of customer complaints for the first few weeks, but the Green Team allows them to staff-up relatively quickly and function better each day.

Waste Management uses anti-union law firms to file lawsuits during strikes and lockouts. They immediately file claims that unions are using “violence, threats, and intimidation” against employees, then promote these claims with the news media to shift public opinion in their favor.

Waste Management has massive financial resources and is willing to endure losses in order to achieve their anti-unions objectives. With over a billion in annual profit, the company can afford to dig-in and take losses at any local operation where they have a union problem.

Responding to these initiatives is just part of the broader challenge facing the ILWU and the labor movement, according to ILWU International President Bob McEllrath. “We have to develop our own long-range strategy that includes building public support, improving our media relations, educating and involving our members, continuing to strengthen our relations with other unions, and building political power at the local and national level,” he said. “That’s a lot, but it’s what we have to do to make solidarity – as demonstrated by the courageous sisters and brother at Local 6—more of a reality for all of us.”