Reuters — Striking Greek refuse workers have ended a 10-day strike in Athens over jobs as steaming mountains of garbage piled up across the country and temperatures soared.
“We decided to suspend the strike partly because of the heatwave, among other reasons,” a union official told Reuters.
Union officials said they would explore other forms of industrial action in the coming days.
“We want the government to meet their promises. They promised to give us permanent jobs,” said one worker, Marina Tsoukala. “I’m close to pensionable age … what private company would take us on?”
A court order banning extensions to short-term contracts could leave up to 10,000 jobs on the line.
Job security is a sensitive issue in Greece, where one in four is unemployed as the country wrestles with its seventh year of austerity sought by international creditors in return for bailouts.
