Garbage continues to pile up in Chula Vista and Mira Mesa as the Republic Services trash hauler’s strike continues.
Residents and businesses who need collection service have been taking their garbage to the landfill themselves.
Ricardo Durazo is a maintenance worker at Fiesta Plaza in Chula Vista.
He’s added a new task, trash pickup, to the list of jobs he has to get done.
Waste collection has become part of his daily routine since the labor strike started three weeks ago.
RELATED: Garbage piles up in San Diego, Chula Vista as strike negotiations continue
He fills up his maintenance van with as much trash as he can and then drives up the road to dump it at the landfill.
“Right now this is my second load. I think I’ll be done after this one,” Durazo said.
It’s not just trash from the businesses at the plaza that he’s picking up, but garbage from other people’s homes.
He said nearby residents who have not had their trash collected have started using the plaza’s dumpsters.
“They see the trash piling up here and they just come and leave their junk here,” he said.
RELATED: Bargaining between union, Republic Services over trash strike continues
Although he is directly affected, Durazo said he is not angry that the labor strike has continued this long.
“Only they know why they are on strike. They’re human just like us and need our support,” he said.
Cesar Silva, a driver with Republic Services said the community's support has motivated them to keep going until they get a contract they think is fair.
“We knew it might come to this point so we were preparing the whole year to be able to stay out for as long as we had to,” Silva said.
In a statement sent to KBPS, Republic Services said they’re disappointed that the union representing the striking team rejected a proposal that would have resulted in a labor contract and put an end to the three week work stoppage.
They said their offer featured a highly competitive wage and total compensation package.
Meanwhile Republic Services said their blue crew relief drivers will continue collection service, but strikers say those replacement drivers aren’t doing enough.
