SEATTLE – Allied Waste Industries Inc. has reached a tentative five-year contract with Seattle-area garbage haulers represented by the Teamsters union, the company said Sunday.
The deal could stave off a strike that would disrupt service for some 2 million residents and thousands of businesses in King and Snohomish counties.
Company and union representatives reached the tentative agreement late Saturday after marathon bargaining sessions, Allied Waste said in a statement.
The major sticking point had been health care.
“Initially we wanted the Teamsters to consider a more affordable health plan that provides more choices and equivalent benefits for less money, but for now, at least, the Teamsters want to stay with their plan. We’ve worked out an agreement that accomplishes their goal,” Allied Waste District Manager Mike Huycke said in the statement.
The company will not disclose any details of the contract until it is ratified by members of Teamsters Local 174, Allied Waste spokesman Nels Johnson said.
Johnson said he did not know whether a ratification vote had been scheduled. Dan Scott, the secretary treasurer of Teamsters Local 174, did not immediately respond to a phone message Sunday.
Allied Waste employs more than 300 drivers who pick up garbage and recycling in Seattle and suburban communities in King and Snohomish counties.
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