5 p.m. Update: Waste Management and the Teamsters will return to the bargaining table with a federal mediator at 10 a.m. Monday.

“We are glad the Teamsters have announced that they will return to work tomorrow, but feel that this unfortunate situation could have been avoided entirely had the union simply responded to our earlier request to meet,” said Jackie Lang of Waste Management.  “We look forward to our drivers returning to work tomorrow to provide Friday collection services as scheduled.”

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Striking Waste Management trash haulers are going back to work tomorrow.

Union representatives say 700 sanitation workers in Snohomish and King counties will resume normal pick-ups Friday morning to catch up on the backlog created by yesterday’s work stoppage.

“We are concerned that if we continued the strike, Waste Management might lockout our members and create another Oakland,” said Rick Hicks, Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local 174.

The union says when Waste Management locked out workers in Oakland, many residents did not receive trash pick-up service for a month.

“We commit to getting this done at the bargaining table and to keep the public out of it, if possible,” added Hicks. On Wednesday, Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine issued a joint letter encouraging both parties to return to the table.