refuse collection
Articles about work, policy and workers' struggles in the service sector, as distinct from retail, energy and communications.
New clashes in Grammatico over open refuse dump
Clashes break out again over XYTA construction between locals and riot police with three protesters arrested.
New clashes between locals of Grammatico and riot police forces broke out in the morning of Friday 17/7 when the locals, opposed to the construction of an open refuse dump (XYTA) in the vicinity of their villages, moved to break the riot police blockade of the construction site and block company vehicles from replacing the ones that they had torched last week when their environmental struggle begu
Strikes, hunger strikes and clashes in Greece
Strikes, hunger strikes and environmental action leading to clashes with riot police open week after weekend of state terror in Greece.
After the weekend of terror in Greece, the mid-summer week has started with a wave of strikes and environmental actions, underlining that the spine of the movement is too strong to break.
Pitched battles over open refuse dump outside Athens
Pitched battles between locals of Grammatico, outside Athens, and riot police forces over the construction of an open refuse damp with locals digging trenches, building barricades and torching bulldozers; scores have been wounded as battles continue amidst spreading fires.
More than 1500 locals of the Black Mountain village of Grammatico, outside Athens, have erected barricades and dug trenches in order to stop the beginning of an open refuse damp (XYTA) construction in their area. The locals torched the company's bulldozers after riot police forces arrested and beat the resisting mayor, refusing to take him to the hospital to treat his wounds.
Sicilian bin workers on strike, Palermo drowned in rubbish
Fifty piles of rubbish were set on fire last night in Palermo and rubbish seem to drown the whole city. The city bin workers refuse to do extra hours work because they do not want to get on vehicles that do not abide by the security standards.
Ten days ago the refuse workers of Palermo decided to stop working extra hours because most of the vehicles used for rubbish collection do not abide by compulsory security standards. June wages are at risk but unions decided to keep on with the protest and be on "white strike" which means the strict respect of the security procedures.
Work-to-rule on Leeds bins
Refuse collectors and street cleaners in Leeds will be taking industrial action over the Christmas period.
The GMB union said its members would be "working to rule" from 27 December, with Unison members doing the same from 29 December.
More wildcats at Brighton bin depot
Bin workers in Brighton staged a wildcat walkout yesterday and have threatened strikes in the new year in protest of new rounds and redundancies.
Dozens of staff were sent home yesterday after a two-hour sit-in at Brighton and Hove City Council’s Hollingdean depot. Amid mounting tension, GMB union officials said it would be balloting its members on industrial action for the new year.
Chilean general strike ends after wage increase
Chile's Senate unanimously approved a 10% wage increase for public workers on Thursday, ending a strike by 400,000 state employees that had halted garbage collection, and affected health and school services.
After the unanimous 32-0 vote in the Senate, union leaders announced the end of the four day-strike.
The Senate vote came hours after Chile's lower house rejected a 9.5% wage increase. Following the lower house loss, the government had increased its wage hike offer to 10% and senators approved the sweetened deal.
New clashes with riot police in Corfu over refuse dump
New clashes between locals and riot police erupt in the south Corfu town of Lefkimi over the construction of open refuse dump.
In the afternoon of Thursday 20/11/08, the residents of Lefkimi in south Corfu staged yet another demo against the construction of the open refuse dump (XYTA) imposed by Athens in the vicinity of their town.
Residents clash with police in Greek refuse dump row
Local resistance to open-refuse dump near Ioannina escalates to clashes after an army of 230 riot policemen charges barricades
On the 15th of October the residents of Elliniko village near the city of Ioannina, North West Greece, blockaded the construction of the open-refuse dump (XYTA) to which they have been opposed for over 18 months. The response of Athens was to send 19 battallions of riot police forces (MAT), that is about 230 policemen, to open the way for the bulldozers.
Locals attack police station after renewed repression of open refuse-dump related protests in south Corfu
The 3 month long protest against an open refuse-dump in south Corfu escalates to violent attack against police station after yet another repression of local protests. 2 men, including the village priest are held for subversion and rebellion.
On Saturday 9/08 the peacefull protests by residents of Lefkimi against the creation of an open refuse-dump at the periphery of their village were once again met with police repression: the riot-police made extened use of tear gas and disregarded home-asylum laws by attacking residents with battons within their very backyards.
