The town reserved about $23,000 in July due to the Republic Services trash strike, according to the Department of Public Works Director and interim Town Administrator Gino Cresta.
“I have trouble calling it savings,” Cresta told the Swampscott Tides, adding that Swampscott still needed to use a lot of resources for trash services. “The town had a net savings of $23,000, however that doesn’t include soft costs.”
The trash strike started on July 1 and came to an end September 19, as the Teamsters Local 25 and Republic Services reached a five-year collective bargaining agreement. The strike affected more than 400,000 residents across the state in 14 cities and towns. Beyond Swampscott, the strike impacted other communities like Lynnfield, Danvers, Marblehead, Gloucester, Peabody, Topsfield, Watertown and Saugus.
Waste collection workers across the North Shore went on strike demanding higher wages, better benefits, and stronger labor protections. The terms of their agreement were not released.
Swampscott’s current contract with Republic Services ends on July 1, 2026. Select Board Member Mary Ellen Fletcher noted at a Select Board meeting on September 3 that a group is working on the parameters of the new contract.
In the current contract, Swampscott is paying $1.1 million for Republic Services’ work, with an additional tipping fee of $108 per ton for trash disposal and $85 per ton for recycling, according to Cresta.
“Beacuse they didn’t pick up recycling for the month of July, they took the $1.1 million invoice and cut that in half,” Cresta said. “I said, ‘You also missed four days of trash pick-up,’ so they reduced the $46,000 they were going to get for the trash by another 17%.”
Republic Services also missed a yard waste pick-up in July, reducing the bill by an additional $8,800.
Swampscott’s total bill for Republic Services in July was $31,000, which is $64,000 less than a typical month without a strike.
The town still needed to expend just under $41,000 in July for DPW staff’s overtime pay, taking trash to the Marblehead transfer station, police details and hiring Star Waste Systems’ dumpsters.
Cresta said the dumpsters cost “quite a bit of money.”
“The time’s supply and demand, and I didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Cresta said.
On a “typical weekend,” Cresta said the DPW was filling 13 dumpsters with residents’ recycling. About 75% of the recycling was cardboard.
Equipment usage and fuel costs at the DPW were not included in the $23,000 savings estimate, Cresta noted.
At the time of writing, Cresta has not received an invoice from Republic Services for August or September.
“I think we’re going to have additional savings,” Cresta said. “I took (Star Waste) out of service because Republic said they could supply me with dumpsters, so that’s going to be a big savings.”
The DPW was able to also eliminate the police details once “we got it down to a science,” Cresta said.
While there may have been some overall savings, Cresta said the strike was “tough on the residents.”
“I am so impressed by the residence of Swampscott with how grateful they were,” Cresta said. “They were inconvenienced but the majority of them that came in thanked our staff, would buy them drinks, and people would bring them food. It says a lot about the residents in Swampscott.”
