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A strike by towing service operators in Gadsden has ended
just as talks with city officials began. The strike happened after a dispute
that started Friday. Owners of several Etowah County area wrecker services said
when an 18 wheeler overturned on an I-759 offramp Friday, the truck's owner was
allowed to call a company out of Springville to handle the scene and the
cleanup.
The problem, the owners said, wasn't the call to an out of
town company, but the fact the company wasn't licensed to do business in
Gadsden. The local wrecker services, however, all have to buy business licenses
and meet other requirements to get those licenses, such as insurance.
When the owners went to city hall, they said they were given
the runaround between the police and revenue departments. They believe the
police department should have been making the call. Some owners said they
showed up at the scene, only to be told to leave and threatened with arrest.
As a result, the owners of 15 area wrecker services abruptly
went on strike, refusing to answer rotation calls except for what they called
"life or death emergencies." The wreckers still took calls from
individuals, and from rotations in other surrounding cities like Rainbow City
and Attalla.
On Monday morning, the owners met with Gadsden council
member Thomas Worthy, who set up a meeting for Wednesday morning with the
owners and the council's public safety committee. The wrecker owners hope to
find out what went wrong Friday and are open to discussions on changing the
wrecker services ordinance.The group also started a formal organization, the
Etowah County Towing Association, to react to any such issues like this one.
The owners said they are also open to seeing the law on
wrecker services re-written.
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