Republic, Teamsters reach deal to end trash worker strike

Driving the news: Republic and Teamsters Local 25 reached an agreement on a five-year contract.

• Union members voted to ratify the agreement Friday morning.

What they're saying: "During the strike we never lost hope that we would reach an agreement that would benefit our members," said Tom Mari, Local 25 president, in a statement.

• "We are now ready to return to work and provide the best service possible to Republic's customers."
• In the joint statement, market vice president Kurt Lavery said Republic Services looks forward to employees returning to work on Monday and that "we will work tirelessly to restore our customers' trust."

Context: The strike began July 1 as Teamsters demanded higher pay and better benefits.

• At the time, they said Republic refused to agree to match the wages and benefits that had been negotiated by their competitors, Capitol Waste and Star Waste Systems.
• Trash and recycling piled up in some communities for weeks, even as the company hired temporary workers to try to fill the gaps.
• The strike garnered so much attention that Gov. Maura Healey asked Republic Services in a letter last month to step up: "Your company's failure to resolve or even meaningfully address this prolonged strike is unacceptable."

Editor's note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.