Utrecht garbage strike comes to an end after one week

After a week-long strike, Utrecht's garbage collectors and city cleaners started working again on Tuesday. The municipality expects it to take at least a week to clean away the mountains of trash that built up during the strike. “Residents who want to help can collect grappling pliers and garbage bags at the district office or the waste separation stations,” the city of Utrecht said.

The first garbage collectors arrived in the city center with extra garbage trucks at around 9:00 a.m., AD reports. Despite the goal of the strike - a higher salary - not being achieved yet, they were eager to get to work. “I like being back at work. Although it is a big mess everywhere,” one garbage collector said to the newspaper.

Another said the mess was comparable to after festivals and holidays. “I think we’ll have to work a lot harder in the coming days.”

The first priority is to get household- and industrial waste collected. Bins with organic waste will have to wait.