Rubbish is piling up in Essen and other cities and towns in North Rhine-Westphalia as waste collection workers enter their fifth day of strike action.

Rubbish collection strike continues in cities and towns across NRW

While Germany’s public sector rubbish collectors came to an agreement with their employer at the beginning of April, employees at some private sector rubbish collection companies are now striking.

Workers at Remondis, a private rubbish collection company, are moving into their fifth day of industrial action in the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Trade union ver.di called on Remondis employees to begin striking on Monday, April 14, and disruption is expected to continue over the Easter holiday.

As a result, rubbish is piling up on the streets of cities and towns where workers are striking, including Essen, parts of the Ruhr region, Rhineland, Münsterland, Münster, Steinfurt and more.

In the meantime, as bins are overflowing, residents are advised to leave their excess rubbish bags beside the bin where they would normally throw the bag away.

Why are rubbish collection workers striking?

Ver.di’s demands of Remondis are similar to those made of local authorities during the recent public sector strikes. In the case of public sector strikes, ver.di argued that inflation was causing real wage losses for employees.

The trade union is demanding a 9 percent increase in salaries for Remondis employees or at least a pay increase of 350 euros per month, alongside paying trainees 200 euros more per year for every year they have been in training.

Thumb image credit: Bjoern Wylezich / Shutterstock.com