Garbage collectors Rotterdam clean up the city after a strike of almost a week

In Rotterdam, the garbage collectors went back to work this morning to clean up the city.

Over the past six days, Stadsbeheer’s waste collectors and city cleaners have been on strike for better working conditions. After days of piling up garbage bags, litter and full containers, they work together to clean up the mess.

“Even office staff roll up their sleeves to help,” says team leader Raymundo Bond of Stadsbeheer against Omroep Rijnmond. “We will function as a large column to clear the large debris first. That is the main mission today.”

A colleague of Bond was in the center of Rotterdam last weekend. “It’s a real mess,” he says. “Waste bags everywhere next to containers, litter and full market areas. My heart is crying, I don’t want to see Rotterdam like that.”

Bond also has trouble with the sight. “It really is a thorn in our side. We work hard every day to keep the city as beautiful and clean as possible. When you see this, it is hard to swallow. We will do our best to get Rotterdam clean again” , he tells Rijnmond:

In Amsterdam, city cleaning is on strike for the second day today. The waste is piling up there too.

In an attempt to keep the area behind the National Monument on Dam Square clean, the employers’ association has placed a large container there. Shopkeepers and restaurateurs can dispose of waste at the container twice a day.

Tomorrow, garbage collectors in various places in Brabant and Limburg will stop working. In Maastricht, Meerssen and Valkenburg, among others, no waste is collected after carnival.