Brea officials want Republic Services – a waste hauler for many OC cities – to pay them $5.4 million after labor disputes this past summer and strikes in 2021 delayed trash pick ups.

Part of that money includes over $130,000 in customer credits as compensation for the work stoppage this year and in 2021 – about $12 per residential customer.

“After careful review of their records submitted for the audit, the City has calculated the liquidated damages, expense reimbursements, and customer credits owed from the 2025 labor disruption, along with the expense reimbursement and penalty assessment owed from the December 2021 labor disruption. In total, the City is seeking $5.4 million owed from Republic Services,” reads a Thursday city news release. 

City officials say they’ve sent requests for reimbursement to Republic Services, one of Orange County’s largest trash haulers. 

“The City mailed a letter to Republic Services requesting reimbursement for both labor disruption instances, along with details of the audit, last month and is awaiting response.”

James Richardson Jr, a spokesperson for Republic Services, said the company shouldn’t owe the city money.

“We are reviewing the information in the City’s audit, but we strongly disagree with the City’s position on the applicability of liquidated damages,” Richardson wrote in a Thursday statement, which accounts for $4.6 million of the city’s $5.4 million request. 

“We value our partnership with the City of Brea and are committed to providing the highest level of service to customers throughout Orange County.” . 

After a city audit into Republic’s records about this year’s labor dispute, Brea City Public Works Director Michael Ho sent out a letter and invoice to the trash collector in September asking for millions in reimbursement by Oct. 23.

Trash pickups were temporarily halted in July for about a week after about 1,000 Orange County garbage collectors refused to show up to work in solidarity with workers in Boston who went on strike for better pay and benefits.

The labor dispute in the North Eastern part of the country triggered a national action that mobilized waste hauling workers across different regions of America, disrupting services in Brea, Anaheim, Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Fullerton, Placentia, Yorba Linda and Seal Beach.

[Read: Trash Pickup in Orange County Resumes Following Delays from Workers’ Picket Line]

Under the union’s contract with Republic Services, workers can honor picket lines to apply more pressure on the company when workers at another facility go on strike. 

Part of the $5.4 million city leaders are asking for includes over $672,000 as reimbursement for a work stoppage in December 2021.

Former City Manager Bill Gallardo sent a similar letter requesting the money back in January 2022, but officials say Republic Services never paid them.

The letter came after 400 Republic Service workers went on strike in December 2021 because they hadn’t reached a contract with the company.

[Read: Orange County Trash Strike Ends, Garbage Pickups to Resume]

Republic is one of the primary trash companies in Orange County, meaning Brea might be just the first to call for a refund amid shutdowns that saw frequent complaints from residents with their garbage cans on the curb for a week or more. 

Correction: A previous version of the article stated City Manager Bill Gallardo sent out the Sept. 2025 letter to Republic Services. Gallardo retired in 2024. Kristin Griffith is the current city manager and Michael Ho, Brea’s Public Works Director, sent out the Sept. 2025 letter. Gallardo sent out a similar letter to Republic Services in Jan. 2022.

​​Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.

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