SAN DIEGO — Mountains of trash could be found all over Chula Vista during the 30-day trash strike. The strike ended in January and it wasn’t until now that the city and Republic Services were able to reach a reimbursement agreement.
Employees for the company went on strike for weeks because of stalled contracts, affecting hundreds of customers who were forced to look for alternatives on how to dispose of their trash.
“Yea, my husband was loading up the truck and taking it to the dump,” said Sally Zaragoza, a Chula Vista local who had to witness the strike.
In that time, Chula Vista spent about 107 thousand on equipment to have its own staff pick up trash.
“Now we get a final agreement that reimburses the city for its efforts in picking up trash and hiring outside vendors to pick up the trash during the strike,” said Councilmember John McCann.
Councilmember McCann announced that in the signed settlement, Republic services is expected to pay for costs but also thousands in services.
Three months ago, Republic also agreed to give customers a partial refund.
CBS 8 asked McCann on Tuesday night if customers can expect a refund for trash they hauled off to landfills on their own.
“The credit Republic Services gave our customers was considered the trash pick-up but the actual landfill cost of putting the trash in the landfill was not covered, and that would be a separate entity. Therefore, we were able to get them fully reimbursed for the trash pick-up, but not for the trash dumping,” said McCann.
Which is why other councilmembers oppose this agreement and voted against it.
In a written statement Councilmember Jill Galvez said:
"I firmly voiced my belief that there should have been full 100% bill credits for all customers during council deliberations in February, rather than rubber stamping republic’s initial offer. I voted against this finalized settlement in early March and remain very disappointed with my colleagues."
WATCH RELATED: New call for action to clean up the mess after month-long trash strike (February 2022)