Briefly in the news

Raul Garcia had a smile on his face as he drove through the streets of

Huntington in a big blue truck this week.

After five days of carrying picket signs, Rainbow Disposal workers are

back to work and moving double time.

Garcia emptied the dumpsters his partner pulled out then hopped down

from the drivers seat to help pick up the trash that had overflowed.

“This is a major cleanup week for us and catching up and we’re off to

a flying start,” said Ron Shenkman, senior vice president of Rainbow

Disposal, which serves Huntington Beach and several surrounding cities.

“By the end of the week we’ll be all caught up.”

Although residents may still see piles of trash in dumpsters and on

curbs, workers are back on schedule and cleaning up the mess left behind,

Shenkman said.

Despite sanitation workers assertions as late as Friday morning that

they wanted 50 cents more a month from each resident, they signed an

agreement Friday afternoon that was virtually identical to the one they

rejected a week before.

“All we’re asking for is residents to help us out,” said Gil Ortiz,

spokesman for the workers Friday morning. “Fifty cents more from

residents so we can have good pay.”But Shenkman said he feels it was, in

part, residents support of the company’s offer of 33.5% that helped sway

the workers to accept the offer.

“It is the same package as prior to the one week strike,” he said. “I

think possibly a better understanding of the benefits offered and the

public support for our position was staggering.”

There are only minor changes to the package that offers workers

complete medical, dental and vision coverage for their families and $16

and hour at the end of five years.

When asked if he was happy with the raise Garcia said “so-so” but said

he was very happy to be back to work.