Municipality workers across Greece have launched a 48-hour strike in order to protest government plans to hand over to private investors part of municipality services. The strike on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 22-23, 2019, already shows its first impact with garbage bags to piling up especially in the big cities of the country.
Rubbish pile in Koukaki, Athens as municipal workers begin campaign of stoppages and strikes. #Greece pic.twitter.com/BUtuSnFexg
— Derek Gatopoulos (@dgatopoulos) October 21, 2019
Municipalities are urging citizens to refrain from bringing trash to the garbage bins and keep it at home until the strike is over.
The Municipality of Athens already warned citizens in this respect since the weekend, as cleaners abstained from overtime work over Saturday and Sunday and put a padlock on municipality’s depots on Monday.
However, many, especially restaurants, did not or could not follow the request, with the effect that garbage is piling up especially in the center of Athens.
Municipality workers’ union POE-OTA has called for the strike in protest of the Development bill that allows municipalities to sign contracts with private companies for the Cleaning, Green and Lighting services.
Workers fear that they will lose their jobs or have to work for much lower wages once private companies will take over such services.
*thumbnail picture is form older strike.
Why do strikes always work to the detriment of the people. Instead of letting it lie inconveniencing the public and increasing the danger of disease, why not collect it all and dump it on the entrances of the municipality’s buildings and the mayor’s front door. French farmers have shown how it’s done. That would be more effective.
oh dear, only reactionary proposals coming from your side *sigh*
Contained within the word reaction is the word action. I suppose the workers should just sit back and relax? To quote the American activist writer Edward Abbey: “Action is the antidote to despair”. It is a question of logic. Which would you prefer: that the garbage sits in front of your apartment or in the mayor’s front yard?