Union says waste kings trash a health plan for workers

The Village Voice reports on the union problems with garbage in New York city :

Back on December 19, just as New Yorkers were about to confront a 72-hour pre-Christmas nightmare called the Transit Strike of 2005, another major city employer was prodding its workers with a sharp stick and daring them to walk off the job. Waste Management Inc., the Houston-based mega-corporation that last year did $12 billion worth of business earning some $900 million in profits, told 123 of its employees who drive the city's streets all night collecting trash from private businesses that it couldn't afford their health coverage any longer. The company also announced that it didn't like paying extra to those who work on Saturdays. For that matter, it added, its pension contributions were too high as well.

After several meetings with leaders of Local 813 of the Teamsters, which represents the workers, the company went ahead and imposed its plan on the workforce. Normally, unions view that kind of action as sufficient provocation for a strike. There was little question the company expected one. Union members watched as Waste Management imported some 80 to 100 potential replacement workers, apparently ready to take over their jobs at a moment's notice. No effort was made to hide them. "They drove behind the [garbage] trucks all night in pickups, watching the men do their collections," said Local 813 president Sylvester Needham. "They had them in motels in Queens, just waiting for us to walk out so they could bring them in."

Does it makes sense to have unions involved in this kind of thing? You'll want to read the whole article for the Mob angle.