An agreement has been reached, and the trash has been cleared, but local officials in the Chicago area are still wrestling with various issues presented by the private garbage workers' strike in October. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has vowed that his city will recoup the money it spent to clear piled-up trash, and at least one suburban solid waste agency may lobby for a state law that would prevent such strikes in the future.

The nine-day strike of 3,300 employees of 17 private waste companies affected commercial and residential service in many Chicago suburbs, as well as the service of commercial properties and large apartment complexes in the city. During the strike, those affected were instructed to dispose of only the most perishable items.

When the strike was over, the employees, represented by the Teamsters union, had walked away with a 30.5 percent increase in wages and benefits. When labor talks began, Teamsters were requesting a 45 percent increase. The Chicago Area Refuse Haulers Association (CARH) represented the private companies.

After the trash piles began to build in Chicago, the city ordered sanitation employees, who ordinarily provide garbage service only to single-family homes and small apartment buildings, to work longer shifts to clean up the mess. As of late October, Chicago's Department of Law had yet to determine the amount of money the city had to spend because of the strike or the best way to recoup the funds, according to Matt Smith, a spokesperson for the Sanitation Department. Mayor Daley told The Associated Press that the city might try to recover the funds from the Teamsters, CARH or both.

Meanwhile, in the suburbs, the West Cook County Solid Waste Agency, which contracts with private companies to provide garbage service for 36 communities, is trying to prevent a similar event in the future. The agency is considering pushing for state legislation that would make it illegal for employees of private garbage companies that contract with public agencies to go on strike, according to Donald Storino, executive director of the agency. Illinois has a law that prevents firefighters and police officers from striking. The agency also is considering bringing waste-hauling services in-house, Storino adds.

Stephen Ursery. Lynn Schenkman, assistant editor for Waste Age magazine, a sister publication of American City & County, contributed to this article.