Teamsters Local 396 launches sanitation contract campaign

Teamsters Local 396 of Covina, California, has launched its 2026 sanitation contract campaign.

More than 3,000 waste industry workers are preparing to negotiate new agreements ahead of their contract expiration in one year. By coordinating contract expiration dates, Local 396 says its members will be able to negotiate agreements that deliver more affordable health care and retirement security, higher wages, safer working conditions and stronger job protections.

"We are launching this campaign now to build momentum and negotiate from a position of strength and unity at the bargaining table," Local 396 President Alex Moran says. "When we raise standards for sanitation workers, we improve conditions across entire communities."

To date, Local 396 has successfully aligned contract expiration dates across eight waste management companies and 29 facilities in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino, California.

Over the next year, Local 396 plans to mobilize its more than 13,000 members, as well as community leaders, elected officials and allies, to support sanitation workers.

"Sanitation workers are essential, not expendable," says Victor Mineros, secretary and treasurer of Local 396 and director of the Teamsters solid waste and recycling division. "Our members do some of the most dangerous jobs in one of the most expensive parts of the country. This campaign is about securing the wages, benefits and protections they deserve."