Tentative agreement averts Seattle garbage strike

According to an article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle garbage truck drivers over the weekend reached a tentative agreement for five-year contracts with Allied Waste Industries and Waste Management. The announcement follows weeks of uncertainty and circumvents a strike that would have disrupted collection service for 2 million residents. Terms of the agreement are being withheld pending the outcome of a union vote on April 29. The roughly 600 Seattle-area garbage truck drivers, represented by Teamsters Local 174, are seeking limits on mandatory overtime and preservation of their current healthcare benefits.