It took more than 26 days of tense negotiations but the garbage lockout in Alameda County has finally come to an end. With first shifts for returning workers beginning at 8:00 Sunday night, neighborhood trash pickups will generally resume the following morning.

Members of Teamsters Local 70 voted 363-3 to ratify a new five-year contract that touched  on health care benefits and picket lines. Workers will receive 5% pay increases, meaning that the new average salary for a driver would range between $70,000 to $74,000 annually.

Though many county residents breathed a sigh of relief at this problem’s resolution, it didn’t stop retired librarian Cindy Simons from filing suit against the Waste Management of Alameda County last Thursday. She is demanding compensation for all the days missed by Waste Management during the lockout.

Over 200,000 households and 9000 businesses have been affected, although no other city has had more complaints over the duration of the garbage lockout than in Oakland (over 3,400 complaints as compared to only 126 at the same time last year).

- Joseph Natividad