Greater Boston communities at the center of the ongoing sanitation worker strike are taking Republic Services to court, seeking immediate relief as trash piles mount, attracting rats and giving

Legal cases and uncollected trash are piling up, as negotiations between Republic and striking Teamsters are set to resume Friday.

The work stoppage pitting Republic Services against the Teamsters has gone from a headache to a public health risk, Gov. Maura Healey said Thursday.

Three municipalities have notified the hauler it’s not meeting its contract, while the Massachusetts secretary of state questioned private companies’ ability to perform sanitation services.

The waste management company said that a truck was stolen, vehicles were damaged, and that non-union workers are being harassed by Teamsters.

Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey wants Republic Services to cut a deal and end a 17-day-long trash collectors strike​.

The strike is affecting Bellevue, Kent, Edmonds, Lynnwood and Renton, as well as unincorporated parts of King and Snohomish counties.

As a sanitation workers strike stretches into its ninth day, negotiations remain at a standstill between Republic Services and the union. Meanwhile, trash is piling up. In parts of the East Bay, garbage hasn’t been picked up since before the Fourth of July.

The Peabody City Council wrote to Bill Gates, asking for his help in ending the Republic Services trash strike.

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