More strikes to come, waste mountain in Utrecht is getting bigger and bigger

Photo: Myrthe van Mil

NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 14:03

City officials will strike in even more places in the near future. Trade union FNV says that work will also be stopped soon in The Hague, the Betuwe, Emmen and Dordrecht and the surrounding area.

Last week, civil servants already went on strike in Almere and Amsterdam, among others. This week that will happen in Utrecht. Garbage collectors do not collect waste in the city for a week. There is also a strike by road workers and employees in the green supply. The strike started on Tuesday and will last through Monday.

The mountain of waste is growing throughout ‘Naples on the Vecht’. In areas such as Overvecht, Transwijk and in the city center, garbage is lying next to overflowing containers.

The municipality of Utrecht acknowledges that the waste mountain in the city is increasing: “Especially in the city center, the underground containers are filling up and people are putting their waste outside the containers,” says a spokesperson.

In a number of places the road was blocked for some time by rubbish on the street, but that has now been cleared. It has been agreed with the trade union that an emergency service will continue to operate, which will come into action if dangerous situations arise due to litter lying around. This also applies if there is glass on the street or if there are reports of needles or other drug waste.

NOS

Waste in the Transwijk district of Utrecht

Photo: Myrthe van Mil

Waste at the Domtoren

Photo: Myrthe van Mil

Waste in the Utrecht city center

NOS

Waste in Overvecht

The municipality of Utrecht calls on people to keep their waste indoors for the time being, or on their balcony or in the shed. “In this way we prevent litter and vermin on the street,” says a spokesperson, who emphasizes that many Utrecht residents respond to that call. People without a balcony or shed who still put their waste outside with the waste containers will not be fined.

The municipality takes into account that the mountain of waste will become even larger in the coming days and hopes that a collective agreement will be reached in the coming days. “We call on the unions to join the table again.”

FNV: wage offer too low

The strikes should lead to a better collective labor agreement. The wage offer made by the municipalities is too low in the eyes of the trade union FNV. “Everyone feels the high inflation and the high workload.”

The strikers want a wage increase of 12 percent, because of the high inflation. In the last negotiations, municipalities did not want to go further than 4 percent and for next year 3 percent.

The newly announced strikes are not as long as those in Utrecht. In The Hague, garbage collectors will stop working for three days from February 13. In the Betuwe, no waste will be collected for three days from Monday. In Emmen, Dordrecht, Zwijndrecht, Papendrecht and Hardinxveld-Giessendam, a one-day work stoppage is planned on February 9.

---

Source

---