Replacement workers from throughout the country began collecting trash from hospitals, day cares and nursing homes today as striking trash haulers picketed Waste Management facilities sites.

Robin Freedman, spokeswoman for Waste Management, said the drivers are picking up refuse from critical sites but there are no immediate plans to have the replacement workers, called the "Green Team," take over collections on residential routes.

"We we want to go back to the table and seek solutions ... but it makes no sense to go to the table when our drivers are still not providing service in our communities," Freedman said.

The recycling drivers, members of Teamsters Local 117, walked off the job Wednesday and were joined by Local 174, the garbage truck drivers.

In the meantime, trash sits uncollected for most of King and South Snohomish counties where Waste Management serves 220,000 customers.

"We are disappointed the company would rather pay out-of-state workers than use (the money) for their experienced local work force," said Brenda Wiest, spokeswoman for the local.

Thursday the union and the company argued in competing news releases about whether picket lines would need to come down before labor negotiations could resume.

Waste Management said in the afternoon it would go back to the bargaining table Saturday if the Teamsters reported to work immediately and stopped picketing the company's truck-parking locations. The company also asked the union to give seven days' notice before it resumes picketing.

Several hours later, the union said it would take down the picket lines Monday if the company would meaningfully bargain Saturday. Brenda Wiest, spokeswoman for Local 117, said the workers don't intend to make concessions before an agreement is reached, but "we're willing to meet without any conditions."

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn, King County Executive Dow Constantine and the mayors of Redmond, Renton and Kirkland, meanwhile, called on the parties to return to bargaining and reach a deal.

"I urge both sides in this labor dispute to go back to the bargaining table immediately and to get this resolved. Under its contract with the city, Waste Management is obligated to continue services in the event of any disruption. I intend to hold them to the contract," McGinn said in a statement.

The contract allows Seattle to fine the company $4,500 a day for service disruptions, with the maximum amount jumping to $250,000 per day after a week.

Waste Management has told customers to continue putting bins out on their normal collection days, then remove them at night. They should not be put out again until the next scheduled collection day. The company did not return calls seeking comment about its plan to resume collection if the strike lingers into next week.

Allison Rich, owner of Italian restaurant Angelina's in West Seattle, is concerned that her trash won't be collected Tuesday, the next scheduled pickup.

"We don't know what to do — we have some storage space out there to put bags in but we don't want to have animals getting into them," Rich said.

Wiest said the strike is about respect and job safety, as well as wages. Recycling workers are paid less than garbage haulers, mostly because they have different unions and contracts. The recycling drivers have a much newer union and haven't established themselves as the garbage haulers have, Wiest said.

She said drivers do the same work and are exposed to the same hazards, and in some cases the tonnage of materials picked up by recycling drivers — especially those who handle yard waste — is higher.

Recycling driver Russ Hogenson said he was bitten by a dog while on the job, slipped down an embankment and injured his back, ending up in the emergency room. Others have reported run-ins with rats, raccoons, hypodermic needles and careless drivers.

Seattle's other waste-hauling contractor, CleanScapes, pays drivers of recycling and compost trucks the same as garbage drivers under a contract with Teamsters Local 174, said company spokesman John Taylor.

A starting CleanScapes driver earns $19.73 an hour, compared with about $17 for a Waste Management recycling driver and about $19.50 for a Waste Management garbage driver.

At a news conference, Wiest called Waste Management a bully that intimidates workers and is unsympathetic to the rigors of the job.

She said the union complained to the National Labor Relations Board about the company's refusal to bargain. She said the company walked away from bargaining June 11. The contract with the workers ended May 31.

Teamsters Local 174, which represents garbage haulers, walked out Wednesday in support of the strike though they have a contract.

Staff reporters Keith Ervin and Alexa Vaughn contributed to this report.

Nancy Bartley: 206-464-8522

Information in this article, originally published July 26, 2012, was corrected July 27, 2012. A previous version of this story misspelled the name of Waste Management spokeswoman Robin Freedman. It also misstated the starting wage for a typical Waste Management garbage truck driver.