GREECE: Athens streets covered in mountains of rubbish as a nationwide strike by Greek municipal workers reached its tenth day

Record ID: 341380

  • Title: GREECE: Athens streets covered in mountains of rubbish as a nationwide strike by Greek municipal workers reached its tenth day
  • Date: 15th April 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Greek) ATHENS RESIDENT NIKOS SAYING; "It's awful, it's disgusting, the whole neighbourhood stinks. This whole place is a magnet for infections. People with children can't pass. It's unbelievable. Pathetic."
  • Embargoed: 30th April 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Greece
  • Country: Greece
  • Topics: Employment,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA4XE2I5OGYLFPXFOURT2PN8UIK
  • Story Text: A nationwide strike by Greek municipal workers reached its tenth day on Friday (April 14, 2006) as rubbish piled up on the streets of Athens and other cities.
    Tonnes of rubbish have been causing a putrid stench in city streets.
    "It's awful, it's disgusting, the whole neighbourhood stinks. This whole place is a magnet for infections. People with children can't pass. It's unbelievable. Pathetic," one Athens resident said.
    Rubbish has also piled up in front of schools and hospitals creating concern for parents for their children.
    "We have been suffocated by the stench. We can't even go to school and even if you go it's the same there also, just mountains of rubbish and nothing else," another Athens resident said.
    The rubbish poses a major health hazard as the warm season in Greece sets in and temperatures begin to rise. Civil health authorities have been spraying the piles with disinfectant. On Friday conditions were made worse when rains in the city of Athens carried away many rubbish bags.
    Municipal workers are demanding better pay and conditions for their profession but have refused calls to enter into talks with the government.
    The strike began ten days ago with the closing of the Athens landfill by workers, forcing judicial authorities to issue a court order to open its gates.
    Striking workers said they would continue the walkout without announcing a deadline, threatening to create an unpleasant atmosphere during next week's Greek Orthodox Easter holidays.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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