MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The sanitation workers’ strike has come to an end after an agreement was reached by union members and Republic Services on Saturday. 

The members of this local union chapter voted unanimously to end the strike 42-0 and approve the 5-year contract agreement.

A week after a sanitation worker was killed in an accident on March 30 at the Shelby County Landfill, 70 Teamsters Local 667 union members walked off the job and initiated a strike at Republic Services.

“The members were very satisfied, and I commended them on standing their ground and doing the things that they needed to do to get a strong contract,” James E. Jones, President of Teamsters Local 667 said.

After ongoing back and forth, a tentative agreement with Republic Services and the union was reached. The contract allows them to keep their safety bonus, added increased wages, and sick days, but the push for additional safety measures continues.

“We just wanna be treated equal, just like any other employer in public service,” Union member, Terry Moss said. “We just wanna receive the same benefits that the other drivers receive.”

“It wasn’t about being away from work it was about standing up what for what you know you deserve,” Jones said. “No reason why Memphis shouldn’t be able to get what they are paying the other locations. It’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to go to work and feel safe and know that we’re gonna be able to go home that same day to our family.”

Union representatives tell us they have not had a strike reach this magnitude since the 1968 Sanitation strike, which Martin Luther King Jr. was a part of.