The bargaining committee has approached these negotiations in good faith with the assumption that WMI would act in kind. However, the union was forced to file an unfair labor practice charge against WMI on Friday, August 22 after discovering that company management had been going around their elected representatives and coercing and threatening workers on issues that were subject to bargaining and should only be discussed in negotiations.

"We have no other course of action but to take these workers out on strike," said Tom Millonzi, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 200. "These workers should never have to be subjected to management’s attempts to bargain contract issues at work and bypass the unit’s elected representatives. To do so only creates an environment of intimidation and at its core, is coercion."

The workers have been without a contract nearly four months after agreeing to continue to negotiate past the agreement’s expiration on April 30. The Teamsters initially approached WMI to negotiate in early January, but the company refused to meet until February. WMI continues to stall and delay during each step of process.

"Our members and the negotiating committee have done everything in their power to avoid a strike," Millonzi said. "But WMI will not negotiate in good faith. We have repeatedly asked for a full written proposal from the company, but have yet to see one."