Boston officials are calling on Republic Services to return to the table and settle with trash workers, saying that the ongoing strike is a public health emergency.

Republic Services and the Teamsters have been at a standoff since July 1, when 450 local workers went on strike after the union's contract expired. Teamsters are seeking better wages, benefits and stronger labor protections.

Bargaining between striking sanitation workers and the waste management giant have ended in an impasse, as the company asks a federal judge to intervene to stop allegedly criminal negotiating