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Hundreds of San Mateo County Recology union workers could go on strike after representatives said that the garbage company has continued to make failed attempts at negotiations.
Recology serves San Mateo County, including unincorporated areas such as North Fair Oaks. A strike would threaten the continuation of waste services in the area.
Teamsters Local 350 on Jan. 21 authorized the strike, a vote that saw “an overwhelmingly unanimous raise of nearly 200 hands” in support, should negotiations, which have endured for nearly two months, hit a “standstill,” a union press release stated.
“Recology is walking back previously agreed-upon terms,” Robert Sandoval, treasurer of Teamsters Local 350, said in the release. “Week after week, Recology has made failed attempts at bringing a contract that meets our members’ goals for health and safety benefits and a fair wage.”
But the spokesman for Recology, Robert Reed, said the company has been negotiating “in good faith” with the union, and that discussions “continue to be productive.”
“Strike authorization votes are a routine part of labor negotiations and do not in themselves mean that a strike will take place,” Reed said. “We are confident progress will continue toward a positive outcome.”
Multiple negotiation sessions are scheduled for the coming weeks, the Recology spokesman added, and the company will try to maintain service and support customers, “in the unlikely event of a work stoppage.”
In any case, Local 350 stated in a press release that the company has come to the negotiations table “with stalling tactics and weak proposals” that the union believes would “reverse” policies that protect Recology employees, including “fair wages” and “good working conditions.”
The Teamsters Local 350 unit that serves San Mateo County is made up of 188 workers and collected 1.5 million tons of recyclable and compostable materials in 2025, according to the union’s website. Teamsters Local 350 represents workers in the waste management, linen, and public sectors in San Mateo County, as well as in San Francisco, Santa Clara, and San Benito counties.
“I remember when we did this before, brothers,” said Brian Marshall, Local 350 member. “Our families and lives depend on continuing this fight as a united voice, as Teamsters. Together we will win.”
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