From:
To: City Council
Subject: Please retain Recology as the city"s waste hauler Date: Monday, February 19, 2024 4:54:42 PM
Attachments: Sebastopol City Council Recology Contract.docx February 19th, 2024
Dear Sebastopol City Council members:
I am writing about your waste management contract, which you will consider at your February 20th meeting. I am a retired SRJC instructor and the former Executive Director of North Bay Jobs with Justice.
Also, in 2003, I served as co-chair of the Living Wage Coalition of Sonoma County when Sebastopol implemented the county's first Living Wage Ordinance. Subsequently, the cities of Sonoma, Petaluma, and the County of Sonoma implemented Living Wage laws for city and county workers and large contractors.
I urge the Council to extend the Recology contract for at least six months and continue negotiations with Recology. Healdsburg renegotiated a long-term contract with Recology in 2021 and agreed upon fair and reasonable rates. Sebastopol should be able to do so as well.
If you decide to issue an RFP for the garbage franchise agreement, I urge you to include the values and priorities for such a new agreement. For example:
+Does Sebastopol want to contract with a waste management firm that provides workers with livable wages and comprehensive benefits?
+Does Sebastopol want to contract with a company with the resources and equipment to continuously improve the City’s recycling rates?
+Does Sebastopol want to contract with a firm that processes waste materials in the county and minimizes greenhouse gas emissions?
Why should the City explore all possible avenues to retain Recology? In 2016, workers employed by the former waste hauler for Sebastopol and many other county jurisdictions, the Ratto Group, approached Teamsters 665 and informed the union about the low wages, inadequate benefits, and hazardous working conditions.
The Teamsters and these workers initiated an organizing campaign, and Jobs with Justice built a community support network. In May 2017, Ratto workers voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters. After Recology purchased Ratto in 2018, the union and the company agreed to a five-year contract.
As a result, between 2017 and 2023, wages for Recology drivers roughly doubled. The typical driver now earns more than $35 an hour plus another $11-12 an hour in comprehensive family health insurance and