Christine M. Watterson.MaóThe company which takes over the contract to collect rubbish and clean the streets in Maó from tomorrow night has come to an agreement with the unions representing the workers in the sector and thus averted an indefinite strike which had been called with effect from the first day of the new year.
The strike would have had serious consequences as the unions had stated that they would not even provide a minimum service during the stoppage which would have involved the personnel responsible for rubbish collection as well as those engaged in street-cleaning activities.
Under the agreement, those employees transferring from the previous contractor to FCCSA will be allowed to keep the rights they have acquired over the past few years. The new contractor had proposed replacing the existing Saturdays off with rota of free days plus an extra payment, as part of the deal with the Council was that the rubbish in the town would be collected 365 days a year. However, the workforce considered the offer to be inadequate and rejected it, threatening to strike indefinitely from tomorrow.
The company was left with no option but to engage more workers who would agree to the suggested rota system for free days and thus allow existing personnel to maintain their Saturday off, if they so desire. It is estimated that an extra 11 people will need to be employed in order to offer the best possible service.
The personnel responsible for cleaning the streets have been granted the extra payment they demanded as they will be required to operate more complex machinery.
A five-hour meeting with the Balearic Arbitration and Mediation Tribunal resulted in the agreement being reached between the company and union representatives, after talks held earlier in the month had reached a stalemate.
