Trash and recycling collection disruptions entered day four in Chula Vista on Monday as Republic Services workers remain off the job in solidarity with strikers on the East Coast.

But city leaders do not believe the impacts necessitate declaring a state of emergency, which would redirect city workers to pick up residents’ trash. That could change, however, if the work stoppage continues for several more days, officials indicated during a special City Council meeting Monday.

For now, Republic Services said it had sent out drivers from Arizona and other areas to collect as much waste as possible and planned to send in more support crews later this week. Services for hospitals and nursing homes are being prioritized.

Hundreds of Republic Services employees in Boston have been on strike since July 1, demanding a contract with better wages and benefits, as well as stronger labor protections. Since that time, picket lines have extended nationwide, including in Chula Vista and at some facilities in San Diego.

“Republic Services doesn’t run without its hardworking Teamsters,” the union said on X on Monday. “This strike forced on workers by the multibillion-dollar corporation is resulting in trash pileups and collection disruptions for scores of people across the country. But Teamsters at Republic will not back down until they’ve gotten the fair contracts they’ve rightfully earned.”

Teamsters and Republic Services representatives met with a federal mediator Friday in an attempt to reach an agreement, but the union “did not take negotiations seriously and refused to make any meaningful progress,” the company said. Republic said it offered a nearly 16% wage increase immediately, an approximate 43% pay increase over five years and zero-premium health care for Boston workers. Mediation is expected to resume Tuesday.

In San Diego County, Republic Services offers trash and recycling collection, bulk waste removal and other services for residential and commercial customers in Carlsbad, Chula Vista and the city of San Diego.

But it’s Chula Vista that has felt the impact, Mayor John McCann said, as local Teamster workers continue to honor a picket line in solidarity with Teamsters in Boston.

Alberto Guardado, area vice president for Republic Services, said the company does not have “the authority or the ability to compel employees to return to work under these circumstances, as this is a union-initiated action beyond the scope of local operations. We don’t know when the Teamsters plan to return to work.”

Chula Vista-based workers said they were not working out of solidarity with Boston strikers, but also to send a message to city officials that they, too, feel underpaid.

Several residents said the situation was an opportunity for the City Council to consider letting residents select their waste hauler, rather than limiting them to services with the city’s lone waste hauler, Republic Services.

“We need to get the opportunity to choose our people to pick up this trash, get it off the streets,” said longtime resident Russ Hall. “We should have had that. Having this happen a second time in three years, I was shocked when I heard about this the other day.”

In early 2022, more than 250 sanitation workers walked off the job in Chula Vista to protest stalled contract negotiations between Republic and the Teamsters. A public health emergency was declared amid reports of vermin issues, the city’s park rangers and public workers employees stepped in to pick up trash and new equipment was bought to collect the trash.

Originally Published: July 14, 2025 at 7:16 PM PDT