Our Time Is Now: Southern California's Sanitation Workers Are Fighting for the Future of the American Working Class

By Marcus Ford and Jorge Gomez 

Trustees of Teamsters Local 396 and longtime sanitation workers 

Before most Southern Californians wake up each morning, sanitation workers are already on the job. Long before the first cup of coffee is poured or children leave for school, thousands of drivers, mechanics, welders, and sorters, in the Southern California sanitation industry are navigating busy streets, operating heavy equipment, and performing one of the most dangerous jobs in America. By the time most people begin their day, our work has already helped make their communities cleaner, safer, and healthier. Most people never think about us. Until the trash isn't picked up. That reality is why September 30, 2026, represents a defining moment, not only for sanitation workers, but for working people across California. 

For the first time in history, more than 3,000 sanitation workers represented by Teamsters Local 396, spanning Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino counties, will bargain together under a common contract expiration date. This unprecedented alignment is the result of decades of organizing, strategic bargaining, and the determination of generations of Teamsters who believed that workers are strongest when they stand together. We stand on their shoulders. 

Under the leadership of our Executive Board, led by Secretary-Treasurer Victor Mineros, our union has united thousands of sanitation workers under one coordinated contract campaign with a simple message: Our Time Is Now. 

For decades, sanitation workers have helped build an industry worth billions of dollars while too often being treated as an afterthought. Companies such as Republic Services, Waste Management, and other private haulers generate enormous profits from an essential public service that cannot be outsourced, automated overnight, or simply ignored. Trash is big business. 

The people who make that business successful deserve to share fairly in its prosperity. Yet too often, sanitation workers have been viewed through the lens of what we collect rather than the value we create. We are not the trash we pick up. We are skilled professionals who protect public health, keep neighborhoods clean, respond during natural disasters, and provide a service every community depends upon every single day. 

Our work is also extraordinarily dangerous. Every shift brings the possibility of serious injury from distracted drivers, heavy machinery, hazardous materials, extreme heat, and unforgiving schedules. Families kiss their loved ones goodbye each morning knowing that a routine workday carries risks most Americans never have to consider. 

No one should have to risk their life and still struggle to achieve economic security. 

That is why this contract campaign is about much more than wages. It is about dignity. It is about respect. It is about safety. It is about ensuring that sanitation remains a career capable of supporting a family, buying a home, and building a secure retirement. 

This industry is powered by working-class people. Many of us are immigrants or the children of immigrants. We come from different backgrounds, speak different languages, and worship in different churches. But on the job, and in our union, we stand together as one. That solidarity is our greatest strength. At a time when Americans are increasingly concerned about income inequality, corporate concentration, and the health of our democracy, unions remain one of the country's most effective institutions for giving ordinary working people a voice. 

Democracy does not begin and end at the ballot box. It must also exist in the workplace. Collective bargaining gives workers the opportunity to negotiate over wages, benefits, safety, scheduling, and working conditions instead of having those decisions imposed from the top down. That is democracy in action. Strong unions strengthen communities because they strengthen working families. 

As longtime sanitation workers, we've watched this industry evolve. Today, more young people are choosing careers as drivers, mechanics, welders, and technicians. They deserve more than a paycheck. They deserve careers with opportunity, stability, and the ability to build a middle-class life. That is what Teamsters fight for. Of course, we know what stands in our way. 

We are negotiating with some of the largest and most profitable corporations in America. They possess extraordinary financial resources and influence. But history repeatedly reminds us that when working people stand together, they can accomplish extraordinary things. This campaign is not about confrontation for its own sake. Our goal is, and always has been, to reach fair agreements through good-faith negotiations. We believe workers and employers both benefit from contracts that provide stability, fairness, and mutual respect. 

But fairness requires two willing parties. If employers refuse to recognize the value sanitation workers create every single day, we are prepared to exercise our legal right to withhold our labor. That is not a decision any worker takes lightly. It is a last resort. But history has shown that meaningful progress has often required working people to stand together and demand the respect they have earned. We also know we will not stand alone. 

Our fellow Teamsters have some of the strongest traditions of solidarity in the labor movement. Our communities understand the essential role sanitation workers play. Increasingly, elected leaders recognize that raising standards for essential workers strengthens the economy for everyone. This campaign is about more than one contract. It is about setting higher standards for an entire industry. It is about protecting immigrant workers from exploitation. It is about ensuring that dangerous, essential work is rewarded with safe working conditions, fair wages, and a secure future. 

Most importantly, it is about preserving the promise that honest work should provide an honest living. For generations, unions helped build America's middle class. Today's sanitation workers are determined to ensure that promise survives for the next generation. Our time is now. If we stand together, as workers, and as communities, we won't simply improve one contract. We'll help transform an entire industry.