Garbage piles up as staff protest private contracts

Municipal sanitation workers in Athens, Thessaloniki and other major cities are to continue on Wednesday with strike action that has left thousands of tons of festering garbage on the streets amid unseasonably warm weather. 

Workers are protesting the provisions of the conservative government's growth law which allows certain municipal sanitation, lighting and parks and recreation projects to be privatized.

Existing laws also allow private projects but the new provision facilitates them, requiring the support of the mayor and his or her municipal councillors whereas currently an absolute majority in the council is necessary.

Workers object to what they regard as a privatization drive that could put their jobs at risk, and have pledged to continue their action, culminating in a nationwide 24-hour strike on Thursday when the growth bill is to be voted on in...