Teamsters Local 117 is pleased to announce the following statement of support for Puget Sound recycle drivers issued today by the Sierra Club:

The hardworking men and women who drive trucks for Waste Management are what make the Puget Sound’s recycling and yard waste program one of the best in the country.

We are concerned that Waste Management’s refusal to play by the rules will lead to trash piling up, which could have effects on the environment and public health.

This could even set Seattle back in our fight towards beating San Francisco as the country’s number one recycling community in the US.

http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2012/06/27/genuinely-good-news-about-recycling/

We’re proud of the hard and often dangerous work our recycling and yard waste workers perform to help keep our neighborhoods safe and clean, and to protect the environment.

Without them, we would not be the best in the country at recycling everything from soda cans to kitchen scraps. We call on Waste Management to play by the rules and treat their workers with dignity and respect.

- Seth Ballhorn
Associate Regional Representative
Sierra Club

The Teamsters and the Sierra Club are part of a national blue-green alliance working to protect the environment and to promote good jobs with family wages and fair working conditions.