The Massachusetts Attorney General's office said last week that Somerville's trash contractor was in violation of state wage and hour laws even as it was up for a contract extension before the Board of Aldermen in November.

F.W. Russell, the trash removal and recycling contractor recently given a one-year contract extension and new five-year contract valued at $10,923,324.22 by the Board of Aldermen, was accused of wage violations two years ago during a labor dispute.

The Attorney General's office said in a statement that Russell and its affiliates will pay $70,000 to 352 current and former employees in addition to a $20,000 penalty for failing to pay overtime and other violations.

Teamsters Local 25 was at the center of a labor dispute in late 2007 when they began picketing outside of the company's Somerville yard, claiming some of its employees had asked the company's management about unionizing but were rebuffed.

The protest turned violent in January 2008, when union members locked Russell's gate and a small-scale riot ensued.

"Justice has prevailed; today should serve as a wake-up call to Russell Disposal that it is time once and for all to clean up its act," Local 25 President Sean M. O'Brien said in a statement. "Their employees, and the public they serve, deserve no less."
(Please click link to read full story)