The union-busting mayor of Fall River has issued layoff notices to 24 members. Teamsters Local 251 is fighting back at the bargaining table, at City Hall, in legal proceedings and in the streets.
Driven by a political agenda, Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia has rushed to privatize trash collection—no matter the cost to the city’s workforce or Fall River residents.
The mayor’s bargaining team stormed out of contract talks in April, declared impasse, and refused to negotiate further—in violation of labor law.
Next, the Mayor privatized trash collection and gave the work to EZ Disposal—against the urging of his own City Council.
Local 251 has filed Unfair Labor Practice charges. Our next hearings will be held on June 8th before the Massachusetts Labor Relations Board.
Community residents and the labor movement are standing with us. On May 10, Teamsters from Rhode Island and Boston rallied in front of City Hall. Verizon strikers joined our protest.
From there union members and their families marched into the City Council meeting. The Mayor stonewalled and tried to block us from testifying—but we succeeded.
The City Council passed a resolution urging the mayor to wait until the legal process is complete before laying off any workers. He refused and issued layoff notices to 24 Teamsters on June 3.
The Mayor’s reckless actions put Fall River at risk of a huge liability in back pay and benefits for work lost due to privatization.
Our case at the Labor Board is strong. If we win, the Mayor will have to return to the bargaining table. We are fighting to have layoffs reversed, win the work back from EZ Disposal and win full back pay and benefits for our members.
While the Union is presenting our charges at the Labor Board, we have also forced the Mayor to come back to the table to bargain over the impact of his privatization plan.
We have demanded that Local 251 members be guaranteed any available jobs at EZ Disposal for Fall River trash collection.
In a radio interview on WSAR, the Mayor promised that our members would have the first opportunities for this work. But in negotiations on June 2, the Mayor’s spokesperson said Local 251 members are not needed to do trash disposal in Fall River. He said that CDL drivers can apply for jobs in Metro Boston instead.
Mayor Correia is not the first anti-worker politician to take on the Teamsters—and he won’t be the last.
But Local 251 members are united in fighting to protect good jobs and quality services in our communities. We thank workers and their families for sticking together—and thank every Local 251 member who has supported this fight.
If you live in Fall River we encourage you to contact Mayor Correia and your City Councilors to support working families in Fall River, and to do the right thing for DPW workers facing layoffs.
We will keep you posted. United, we win.
