“We’re asking the public to be patient as far as the blue and the green carts are concerned,” Manny Lanuevo, the deputy director of the city’s Department of Environmental Services, said Monday.
However residents in affected areas are being told to bring their blue and green bins back from the curb. It will take at least two more weeks until the bins are picked up under the city’s normal refuse schedule.
“It’s kind of a big inconvenience,” said Stacey Pratt of Halawa Heights. “They kind of encourage us to recycle and it’s easier to recycle if they’re empty.”
Although many residents rarely fill up blue bins with recyclables such as glass bottles and newspaper, green bins are usually filled quickly with backyard clippings.
“To go two consecutive weeks or even three consecutive weeks of no pick-up would be hard, unless they want to bring some more green cans to us,” said Gerry, a Halawa Heights resident who asked Khon2 not to publish his last name.
This is the second time in two weeks the city has failed to pick-up all garbage bins as scheduled. On October 14 and 15 blue and grey bins from Kahala to Ewa Beach were skipped, again because of mechanical troubles. All of the grey trash bins were eventually picked-up on October 17.
According to Lanuevo the trucks that have been unable to perform are eight to ten years old and feature a side loading mechanism or arm. He said the city is scheduled to take delivery of a fleet of new trucks by early next year.
“By the end of February we are getting twenty new trucks, so it’s already on order,” he said. “We are in the process of replacing some of the old trucks.”
Lanuevo meanwhile squelched speculation that the missed pick-ups were the result of a job action by United Public Workers, the union that represents refuse workers. UPW is currently negotiating a new contract wit the city after a two year deal expired June 30.
“I don’t think so,” said Lanuevo, when asked about union unrest. “I think last week the mayor had a meeting with UPW and they’re progressing in their talks.”
The state and the city are seeking labor savings of five percent from UPW, in addition to a 50-50 split on health insurance premiums. Union sources say UPW has agreed to the higher cost of health benefits, but will only take pay cuts in the form of furloughs.
In September UPW announced 80 percent of its members had approved a strike if necessary.
Union sources tell Khon2 if a strike were to be called, it would not take place during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit, a gathering of twenty-one Pacific Rim leaders scheduled to take place in Honolulu from November 7 — 13.
Register to log on and leave a comment
Have a news tip? Contact Andrew Pereira at 368-7273. Follow Andrew on Twitter at Khon_Reporter
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
