Uncollected garbage is piling up on the streets of Los Angeles County this week as 500 garbage collectors went on strike.

The workers, members of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, are citing anti-worker business practices. Their employer, U.S. Waste Management, is accused of paying low wages and forcing workers to work long shifts.

The average worker makes $37,000 per year, not including overtime pay. The average hourly wage is a little under $18.00 an hour.

Due to the high living costs in L.A. County, one of the wealthiest areas in the country, many of these workers claim they are just getting by. A wage-increase proposal by the company was turned down as insignificant.

In five years, under the proposal, workers would be making an average of $21.80 per hour. This figure, according to union officials, is still far too low for the work involved as well as for living standards.

The company argues that the contract was a more than reasonable offer.

“This was a good contract,” said Waste Management spokesman Kit Cole to United Press International. “It wasn’t peanuts.”

Despite the importance of wage increases, the strike leaders argue that treatment of workers is also at the forefront of this conflict.

The garbage collection industry is supplemented heavily by immigrant labor. The company is being accused of race-baiting and using intimidation against immigrant workers.

“They play the psychological card against the immigrant workers, making them think that there will be raids and deportations if the workers speak out,” said Ron Herrera, Teamster Local 396 Secretary-Treasurer to the Socialist Worker. “They try to create tension between the black and Latino workers.”

The union’s tactics have come into question as well. The Teamsters have been known for decades as one of the toughest and most solid unions around.

Their tactics on picket lines have been viewed as extreme and at times counterproductive. This strike is no different.

Striking workers are blocking the entrance and exits of the truck yards. The target is the replacement, or scab, workers that were hired by the company to take their jobs. The goal is to disrupt business as usual and cause as much damage to the company as possible.

“I make each one sit for a minute-and-a-half before he can come through my line,” said Bill Huff, executive coordinator of Local 396 to the Union News Web site. “I’m knocking out about five hours every day. They keep trying to throw me in jail but I’m still here.”

The company has called the police several times accusing the strikers of harassing the scab workers. As of yet, no arrests have taken place.

The early morning hours of Oct. 26 saw an act of violence that many argue is a sign of the strike escalating. A replacement worker was hit with a baseball bat, as was his truck, leading many to believe the strikers are getting more serious, and desperate.

While the union does not condone any violence, many anti-union activists and company supporters cite this incident as a way the union gets what it wants.

The possibility of the company hiring permanent replacements has come up, infuriating the strikers and causing tensions to rise further.

“This is a perfect example of the threatening, intimidating and heavy-handed tactics they use with their workers,” said Local 396 President Jay Phillips to the Union News Web site. “That’s one of the reasons they’re on strike. This company treats their workers like a commodity that’s easily replaceable.”