Big bags, small bags. Black bags, blue bags and supermarket bags. Closed bags and open bags. They all pile up on the streets of Athens and other cities across the country. Municipality workers have been on strike since last Sunday, the government tries to find a solution and national health organizations warn of the dangers for the public health as a mini heatwave with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius strikes Greece.
Citizens keep bringing garbage to the streets, despite the appeals not to do so. “Garbage in my kitchen stinks,” said a mother of two in my neighborhood. She kept the household waste of the family inside for a couple of days, then she thought “the baby diapers would explode.”
In small neighborhoods, garbage is normally nicely arranged around the bursting bins.
downtown Thessaloniki
In the city centers, there is anarchy: household waste mixed with groceries waste and recycling material.
The small mountains of garbage are surrounding bins. Or are just left on the pavements, squares and street corners.
More than 1,500 tonnes of garbage is estimated to lay on the streets of Thessaloniki with the biggest problem to be located in the city center.
Nobody dares to estimate the volume of the garbage mountain in Athens of four million residents.
It is not the garbage collectors who are on strike. It is some 10,000 – 15,000 municipality workers on temporary contracts who block the garbage collection. They hinder garbage trucks and collectors to do their job, they block entrances to the landfills.
A couple of garbage trucks were allowed to collect waste in some municipalities of Thessaloniki on Saturday, especially outside ‘sensitive groups of the society’ like kindergartens and senior day care centers.
In Patras, also a few garbage trucks were allowed to collect rubbish in some areas and also beaches at the north of Peloponnese. the Municipality plans to spray the hills of garbage to reduce the odor, while occasional collection will take place in some neighborhoods.
On Thursday, angry municipality workers set garbage on fire and clashed with police on downtown Athens, demanding permanent work contracts.
Since the bailout agreements make hiring difficult, municipalities hire workers with initially 8-month contracts that are extended again and again. Beginning of May, a court found that these work contracts extensions are against the constitution. In this sense, temporary workers should be be fired and new should be hired. furthermore, the workers should return the salaries they received while working in extended contracts.
The government answered with a proposal municipality union POE-OTA rejects. Interior Minister Panos Skourletis put on the table temporary work contracts of just a couple of months for 6,100 workers, until procedures for the new hiring can start.
Workers have announced strike over the weekend, work stoppage on Monday June 26, a 24-hour strike on Thursday, June 29, and protest marches in big cities.
Saturday noon, minister Panos Skourletis invited a delegation of municipality union POE-OTA for talks.
Should both sides fail to agree on a solution and mobilizations continue, municipalities consider to hire private companies to free the cities from the stinky disaster.
The Mayors’ Union KEDE gave a deadline to the ministry to find a legislative solution for the workers by June 27.
As if the garbage plague was not enough, the rising temperatures increased also the ozone levels in Athens on Friday.
Force them to work? This is a public safety issue here. Oh I forgot, the commies are in power!
By the way, where did you see the commies in power Syrizee? I may be blind(?) but all I can see is Ms. Merkel’s employees in power. Maybe she is a sympathiser too – I must tell Donald about it.
What the hell isgoing on – rubbish strewn everywhere in Corfu , tourists saying they are not coming back because of disease . Pkease sort it out , it’s not fair on the poor people of Corfu who are only trying to make a living