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Three-year deal ends garbage strike

Whistler landfill to close Nov. 15

Garbage truck drivers and mechanics were back to work Wednesday after a 13-day strike in the corridor.

An agreement was reached Tuesday afternoon between the Union of Operating Engineers Local 115 and Carney’s Waste Systems.

"I’m just glad that we got a deal and I think that the parties ultimately had to review their respective positions and at the end of the day we came up with a successful conclusion," said union representative Don Swerdan. "It’s a good deal."

Both sides made concessions in Tuesday’s deal, which was approved by 23 of the 27 union employees.

The deal spans three years and Owen Carney has agreed to increase the hourly wage for drivers three per cent each year over the three years, among other things.

Carney was pleased to see his workers back on the job this week. He was also proud of the efforts made by his non-unionized employees including management, office staff and his own children, to keep operations rolling throughout the corridor during the job action by working long hours every day.

"We managed to pick up all the garbage in the whole Sea to Sky corridor," he said.

There were no reported incidents of bear activity that can be directly attributed to the strike even though Carney’s was unable to collect all the recycling and composting over the 13-day period.

The strike, which began Oct. 27, pushed back the closure date of the Whistler landfill.

Carney said the landfill will close on Tuesday, Nov. 15 and the waste export program to Washington State will begin that day.