Replacement drivers in Seattle garbage strike

Waste Management has brought in replacement truck drivers to pick up garbage Friday in Renton and for some other customers in the Seattle-Everett area where trash has been piling up since a Teamsters strike started Wednesday.

Company spokeswoman Robin Freedman says drivers brought in from outside the state are picking up garbage at hospitals, clinics, nursing home and day cares.

Renton customers also are a priority because their pickups are once every two weeks, and waiting for the next pickup would leave some garbage sitting around for a month.

No new talks are planned between the company and Teamsters Local 117. A session with a federal mediator planned for Saturday was called off when the union refused a company demand to return to work.