In a surprise today, Teamsters Local 174 rejected four-year contract proposals from two companies ... Allied Waste Industries Incorporated and Waste Management.

No decision was reached by the union on whether to return to the bargaining table or to strike.

The local's secretary-treasurer, Dan Scott, told The Associated Press that the union's strike committee would meet tomorrow at 9 a.m. and explore all its options.

Scott declined to provide today's vote totals.

Allied Waste and Waste Management did not immediately comment on the significance of the vote.

It had been hoped that the tentative contracts, reached by negotiators on April 15th, would eliminate the threat of a strike. Service for some 2 million households and thousands of businesses in King and Snohomish counties is at stake.

A spokesman for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels says the city's agreements with the two companies require them to continue to provide trash-hauling services regardless of any labor disruption.

Scott says the major sticking points in the two proposed contracts are health care and overtime.