A meeting on Monday between the unionists representing sanitation workers at municipalities around the country and the relevant interior minister failed to end a garbage strike that has left piles of rubbish on urban street corners, especially in the greater Athens area.
On his part, Interior Minister Panos Skourletis said a legislative proposal tabled by the union cannot “stand up legally, due to a recent Court of Audit decision.”
The union, POE-OTA, has demanded an extension of the work contracts for several thousand sanitation workers initially hired on eight-month contracts and then a fast-track hiring procedure via the relevant state hiring body, ASEP.
The strike coincides with a mini heat wave in the country and the beginning of the summer tourism season.
While some small municipalities and islands have already hired out their rubbish collection and disposal services to private contractors, major urban municipalities appear unwilling to deal with the political fallout from such a prospect.
One exception is Thessaloniki Mayor Yannis Boutaris, who threatened to temporarily hire private contractors to remove the mounts of garbage piled up on the northern Greek metropolis’ streets.
