Anne Arundel County DPW contractor strike disrupts curbside pickup for some residents

BALTIMORE — The Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works is trying to minimize disruptions to curbside collection service in certain parts of the county after the employees of one of its contractors went on strike.
DPW has contracts with five companies for curbside collection. One of those companies is Ecology Services Inc., whose employees are represented by Teamsters Local 570, who went on strike starting Tuesday.
Severn Park, Pasadena, Odenton and Laurel communities are impacted by the strike.
DPW officials said last week they were notified of a potential strike by Teamsters Local 570. In the meantime, DPW coordinated with other local contractors, including Gunther Refuse Service and MBG Refuse Service to make sure trash would still be picked up.
However, Anne Arundel County was not able to secure emergency contracts to take care of recycling and yard waste in the areas usually covered by Ecology.
According to DPW, while some Ecology employees showed up early Tuesday morning to collect recycling, DPW said it can’t guarantee recycling and yard waste collection for the rest of the week.
“I would recommend that they check,” said Anne Arundel County DPW Director Karen Henry. “We’ll be updating our website, putting out social media posts, trying to keep the public as informed as possible because it’s going to be changing daily.”
If you’re unsure whether your neighborhood will be impacted, you can enter your address into the “Find My Collection Day” feature on the county’s website.
WJZ reached out to Ecology Services Inc. and Teamsters Local 570 for comment and we are awaiting their response.