Even as Granada groaned under the weight of 4,000 tonnes of accumulated rubbish, two other Andalusian cities were going through the same calvary: Loja and Sevilla.

The rubbish-collection strike in the capital of Andalucia was much more severe with a total of 7,000 tonnes of rotting rubbish adorning the streets during the eleven days that the strike lasted.

The strike action will cost the city’s taxpayers around one million euros, according to the Mayor, which is the total of personnel costs at 750.000 euros, plus replacing the vandalized rubbish hoppers, etc, adding a further 100,000 euros and finally the hire of additional vehicles and machinery. The city needs to hire more vehicles and machinery because only 40% of the fleet is available – the other 60% requires maintenance work, which had not been carried out during the strike.

Meanwhile in Loja, the area capital of western Granada, the strike lasted much longer, running into 20 days.

The eleven workers began their strike on the 15th of January, over the Town Hall dropping its cleaning contract with Cepsa, which would effectively have left them without a job. According to the union representative of the company, the Town Hall had put on the table a 50% cut in the contract price, meaning that the company would receive 200,000 euros instead of 400,000.

The outcome of the strike was that the Town Hall extended the contract one month more but the 50% cut stands. The extra month will give the municipal administration time to draw up new contract conditions.

(News: Andalucia)