Private garbage cleaup launched

Riot police Sunday evicted protesting municipal workers from the site of the capital?s main landfill to allow private trucks to dump tons of trash that have accumulated on the streets of Athens.

The employees, who are protesting fresh wage cuts and impending layoffs, have been blocking the site in Ano Liosia, northwest of the capital, for two weeks. As a result, more than 6,000 tons of garbage has piled up on the streets, prompting experts to warn of a public health risk.

After government appeals for municipal staff to return to work were ignored, a private firm undertook the cleanup over the weekend, with trucks being escorted by police.

Municipal staff, who have been claiming their wages by describing their action as a symbolic protest rather than a strike, said they would not back down.

Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis called for the action to be deemed illegal.