OAKLAND -- Alameda County's bitter garbage dispute made little progress Monday, despite efforts from a federal mediator.

Representatives from Waste Management and Teamsters Local 70 were optimistic heading into their first negotiating session in Oakland, but after a few hours talks broke down.

At around 2:30 p.m. in the afternoon, both sides of this bitter labor dispute walked out blaming each other for the continuing lockout.

"It's just one side talking: us," complained Waste Management representative James Devilin. "The teamsters again taking the unprecedented position that they don't have to negotiate a new contract."

"They have takeways on the table; that's what's difficult," countered Local 70 spokesman Chuck Mack. "We're telling them no, it's not in our interest to engage in collective bargaining that is going to take away the benefits that our members have in the collective bargaining agreement."

Waste Management spokesman David Tucker said the company plans to make some kind of statement later Monday after the session with the mediator and Teamsters Union Local 70 in Oakland ends.

The talks were aimed at ending a stalemate that began at 5 p.m. on July 2 when Waste Management locked out garbage workers after three months of contract talks were unproductive.

Since the lockout, the company has deployed substitute workers to provide services to the communities it serves, which are Albany, Emeryville, Oakland, Hayward, Newark, Livermore, the Castro Valley Sanitary District, Oro Loma Sanitary District in parts of San Leandro and San Lorenzo, San Ramon and unincorporated Alameda County.

The company admits that garbage was piling up in many areas because the replacement workers don't know the routes well.

Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums said on Friday that the city has notified Waste Management that it is currently in breach of its contract with the city.

Waste Management says drivers represented by Local 70 on average earn more than $75,000 a year in wages plus $16,500 in health and welfare benefits and $14,000 in pension contributions.

It says it has offered above-market increases in all those areas as well as a safety program designed to prevent serious accidents and fatalities.

But Chuck Mack, the secretary-treasurer for Local 70, said the union objects to management's request that workers pay a larger share of their health care costs, alleging that the company "wants to shift health care costs back to employees."

Mack also alleged that the company's proposed safety program is aimed more at punishing employees than providing for their safety.