Teamsters authorize strike at Republic Services in Atlanta

Sanitation workers employed by Republic Services, Phoenix, voted Aug. 5 to authorize a strike to protest what workers are calling a violation of federal labor law.

The 120 drivers, helpers and mechanics who are members of Teamsters Local 728 in Atlanta may exercise their legal right to strike in protest of Republic's alleged violations of federal labor laws that protect workers' rights. According to a release, Republic broke federal law when it took work away from its full-time mechanics and outsourced it to subcontractors.

"I voted to authorize a strike because this giant corporation thinks it can get away with breaking the law and intimidating us. When we do the work that earns the company billions, and it tries to bully us by subcontracting our work, it's time for us to stand together and fight back," Marcus Redding, a mechanic for Republic, says.

If workers decide to go on strike, it will not be the first time at a Republic/Allied Waste facility in Georgia. In 2013, workers at the company's hauling yard in McDonough, Georgia, went on strike to protest Republic's violations of federal labor laws.

Over the last several years, workers at Republic/Allied Waste have engaged in multiple lockouts and strikes across the United States, disrupting trash collection for hundreds of thousands of people.