LABOR DISPUTE
No agreement to end Seville garbage strike
Refuse piles high as workers reject offer of smaller pay cut from collection company Lipasam
A garbage collectors’ strike in Seville in force for the last 11 days is set to continue after workers at the municipal collection company Lipasam voted down an offer from employers on Wednesday. The firm reduced its wage-cut proposal from five percent to 3.6 percent. Employees are also unhappy about an increase in their working hours.
City Hall urban affairs and environment chief, Maximiliano Vílchez, who also heads up Lipasam, said negotiations were underway to contract an external company to collect refuse, which is piled chest high in many areas of the city.
The CCOO labor union had expressed hope that the offer, which it termed “interesting,” would be approved after the third round of talks between Lipasam and representatives.