Municipal sanitation workers clash with police outside Parliament

Municipal sanitation workers on short term contracts clashed with police outside Parliament on Thursday after the government failed to offer them reassurances regarding their job security. The union representing local authority workers, POE-OTA, staged a 24-hour strike Thursday to draw attention to its demands as tons of garbage piles up on city streets amid staff shortages. During a rally, protesters vandalized the metal shutters blocking the entrance of the Interior Ministry, set fire to piles of garbage next to dumpsters and tried to barge into Parliament but were pushed back by police. [EPA]