Despite garbage strike, trash pickups continue

Waste Managment job action goes into second week.

By: Jennifer Potash
   Despite a nearly two-week-long strike by union garbage collectors, trash is being picked up in Princeton Borough and Princeton Township.
   The borough’s trash hauler, Waste Management, is in the middle of a labor dispute with its Teamsters union members, who rejected a contract offer from the hauler and have been on strike since Jan. 10.
   Waste Management’s Trenton office brought in replacement workers.
   About five Waste Management trucks have been picking up trash in the borough, said Borough Administrator Robert Bruschi.
   Princeton Regional Health Officer David Henry said the environmental health inspectors have kept a close watch on the trash situation in the densely populated downtown and worked with Waste Management over trouble spots.
   The borough is working with downtown merchants who are not covered under the municipal garbage contract but may have private arrangements with Waste Management to make alternate plans for trash removal, Mr. Bruschi said.
   In Princeton Township, which does not offer municipal trash pickup, many residents contract with Waste Management, Mr. Henry said. Many township residents have been receiving automated phone calls from Waste Management informing them of pickup times and procedures.