Interim Town Administrator Gino Cresta told the Select Board Tuesday night that he didn’t join the lawsuit against the trash company Republic Services because communication with Swampscott has been “very good.”

“I believe I’ve had very good communication with Republic (Services),” Cresta said. “They’ve helped us with the dumpsters. Maybe they should be settling. I don’t want to get into the issue of why it’s not, but they’ve been very receptive to us.”

The Teamsters Local 25 strike is now in its third week. Republic Services handles trash pickup for 14 cities and towns across the Commonwealth, including Swampscott. Republic Services told the Swampscott Tides it offered a 16% immediate wage increase and a 43% raise over the life of the contract. The union has yet to announce its proposals.

Six communities—Canton, Danvers, Gloucester, Beverly, Peabody, and Malden—filed a joint complaint last week seeking judicial intervention in the strike. A hearing was held on Tuesday, and no decision was made. It is not clear at this time when the judge will be making a ruling.

An attorney for Republic Services did acknowledge that pick-up is not at its typical levels.

In Swampscott, only trash is currently being picked-up. The Department of Public Waste (DPW) yard, at 20 Paradise Road, will be open to residents to drop-off their recycling on Friday, July 25 from 3 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday, July 26 and Sunday, July 27 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The yard has been open for the past three weekends. The first weekend, which was strictly recycling, saw three dumpsters filled, according to Cresta. On the second weekend, when both trash and recycling were accepted, the town filled nine 40-yard dumpsters, a DPW ten-wheeler, and three six-wheelers. This past weekend, the town filled up 13 40-yard dumpsters. 

But Cresta seemed to have a positive outlook to the town’s relationship with Republic Services once the strike is complete.

“We’re going to reconcile with them at the end,” Cresta said. 

The town’s trash contract ends on June 30, 2026, according to Cresta. He questioned at the Select Board meeting if the town should “hold them against the contract.”

Cresta is keeping track of all of the incurred costs the town has had to take on due to the strike, from additional dumpsters, police details and additional work hours for employees.

Select Board Vice Chair Doug Thompson asked whether Swampscott might miss out on recovering costs by not joining the lawsuit.

Select Board Member Mary Ellen Fletcher added that a lot of the cities that joined in on the lawsuit are at the beginning of their contract.

“We’re at the end of our contract,” Fletcher said. “We have a very, very favorable contract…It’s a pretty touchy thing for us.”

Thompson thanked Cresta for his responsiveness during what he called a “very fluid situation.”

“We are fortunate to be in the position we’re in,” Thompson said. 

Select Board Member Danielle Leonard thanked Dianne Marchese, the executive assistant to the town administrator, for getting out updates to the town.

Updated information is sent out through the town’s communication systems.

“Everybody’s been nothing but respectful and helpful,” Leonard said.