Sagunto ends strike by waste collection and street cleaning staff
The strike by waste collection and street cleaning workers in Sagunto has been called off after an agreement between the City Council and the workers' committee.
The labour dispute that had partially disrupted street cleaning and waste collection in the municipality has come to an end. Representatives of Sagunto City Council and the workers' committee reached an agreement that allowed the strike to be called off, and the service has returned to normal across the whole municipality, including Puerto de Sagunto (coastal district).
During the weeks of strike action, waste collection and street cleaning ran on a reduced schedule. Opposition councillors said this led to rubbish building up in several parts of the town centre and Puerto de Sagunto, and they repeatedly called for an urgent solution while the dispute continued. Now that the strike is over, SAG crews have resumed their normal collection and cleaning routes across the whole municipality, which should help clear the affected spots over the coming days.
The disagreement had been building since at least mid-July. On 17 July, the opposition party Compromís per Sagunt publicly called for the resignation of councillor Jorge Vidal over his handling of the waste service, amid growing complaints about street cleaning. Three days later, on 20 July, the same party demanded an immediate solution to the conflict at SAG, warning that the service was still being affected. The agreement between the City Council and the workers' committee brings an end to these weeks of political and union tension around the municipal company.
The service is run by SAG (Societat Anònima de Gestió Sagunt), a company that is 100% publicly owned by the City Council, not a private contractor. It was founded on 22 June 1993 and is responsible for street cleaning, waste collection and the management of recycling centres across the whole municipality, including Puerto de Sagunto. Because it is a municipally owned operator, responsibility for keeping the service running and for resolving labour disputes falls directly on the City Council itself, rather than on an outside company. That is why the negotiation was settled directly between the City Council and the workers' committee.
With the agreement, residents of Sagunto and Puerto de Sagunto see the service return to its usual schedule. According to elperiodic.com, with additional details from sag.es.