Las Vegas NowTeamsters Rally for Fired Republic Services Workers

Teamsters Rally for Fired Republic Services Workers

Hundreds of Teamsters and their allies rallied in support of workers fired by Republic Services. The county's garbage pickup monopoly fired 30 workers recently. Unions claim it was in retaliation for trying to unionize but the garbage company says that's not the case.

The men and women who were fired say they were simply trying to organize against the brutal conditions in which they were forced to work at Republic Services' recycling center. While they may have lost their jobs, Teamsters say the workers have gained the support of an organization that is more than 1,000,000 strong.

They come from as far away as Canada and New Jersey -- hundreds of Teamsters chanting and shouting for justice on the steps of the Las Vegas City Hall. The 30 Latino employees worked in the company's recycling center, some for more than a decade.

Republic says they were found during a company audit to be undocumented -- illegal to work in the United States.

One of the fired workers, Ignacio Chable, admits he is not legally documented to work in the U.S., but thinks he should be able to get his job back. "We never had justice in there and we're fighting for the justice. If they knew that before, why did they let us work for that long time?" he said. Chable worked at Republic for more than 10 years.

Teamster leaders insist the firings are less about immigration and more about punishing workers who were trying to unionize. "The company wants to spin this thing and say ‘We don't hire undocumented workers,' yet they fired 30 workers who were undocumented. How did they get there? How did they get hired in the first place?" said Teamsters Local 631 President Kevin Hardison.

In an interview in August, Republic Services spokesman Bob Coyle explained that a recent merger required the company to audit all employees. "All 30 employees that have been let go since the first of the year were terminated because they could not provide accurate documentation under federal immigration laws," he said.

Calls to Republic Services for comment were not returned.

"We would like Republic to hire back the terminated workers, to sort out who's documented, who's not documented, to bring them into the unit with the other 1,200 workers and give them wages and benefits," said Hardison.

The Teamsters already represents some 1,200 employees at Republic Services in Las Vegas, including drivers and mechanics.