Parts of Peel Region dealing with garbage and organic waste collection delays

More than 220,000 residents in Peel Region are dealing with delays in garbage and organic waste pick up after garbage collectors walked off the job on Monday.

Service to handle recycling items and yard waste has also been suspended for people living in Caledon, northwest Brampton and west of the Credit River in Mississauga.

For the time being, residents are being advised to hold onto their recycling until further notice — but they are being told to continue putting out their garbage and organic waste on the curb on their scheduled day.

“We thank everyone for their patience as we work to support waste collection during this labour disruption. Keeping public health and safety top of mind for our communities, we’ve temporarily changed the collection program to allow collection crews to focus on our first priority of picking up garbage and organics from homes affected by the strike,” the Director of Waste Management Norman Lee said in a release.

Dozens of waste collectors at one of Peel’s waste collection collectors — Emterra Environmental — walked off the job on Monday after the union voted down the management’s latest offer.

Emterra is currently using temporary workers to pick up garbage and organic waste.

On the picket line of their facility on Britannia Road, workers blocked vehicles for several minutes as they tried to leave the building.

Meantime, Peel Region’s Manager of Waste Planning, Erwin Pascual, said “we’re hoping for the best through this — we’re hoping it doesn’t last long and we’re going to help our residents and minimize the impact on them.”