Ecology Action Bouncing Back

Ecology Action of Texas recently received some rare good news: The city awarded it a special contract providing roughly $85,000 in reimbursements for operating expenses this year. The money is a further sign that the 30-year-old recycling group -- which runs a processing center in Austin and four rural drop-off stations in the Hill Country -- is bouncing back from last year's troubles, including labor strife more common to Major League Baseball than a left-leaning environmental group of just 10 staffers.

Other recent signs of life at Ecology Action include the group's first open board meeting (touted as a "community meeting") in April, which drew around 25 people. The group is once again planning to host next spring's Earth Day Celebration, after doing nothing this year. And the staff has stabilized after turning over twice (25 people worked there last year) and plowing through three board presidents and two executive directors. Last summer, staff reacted poorly to a strict new director, but got no support from its board. All but one went on strike and were promptly fired, their jobs filled by replacement workers. The director and several controversial board members later resigned, though not before an air of bitterness settled over the group, and several employees filed unfair labor practice complaints with the National Labor Relations Board. One of those workers not only got his job back but, in another symbol of a turnaround, is now operations manager.