The possibility of an indefinite strike in Girona's cleaning service starting from May 4, barely five days before the start of Temps de Flors on May 9, has led neighborhood entities of the city to demand dialogue between the company and the staff to avoid the conflict.
The Coordinadora d"Associacions Veïnals de Girona and the association Girona Neta i Digna have expressed their concern over the evolution of negotiations in Girona+Neta, whose staff asks to close an agreement for the new collective agreement. If there is no understanding, the workers plan to start an indefinite strike.
Neighborhood concern over the impact in the middle of the Temps de Flors campaign
Both associations make it clear that they will respect the right to strike if it is finally called, but warn of the impact it could have in one of the weeks of greatest influx of the year in the Gerundense capital.
"If there is a strike it means that the negotiations have gone badly" - Jordi Tomàs, president of Girona Neta i Digna
Tomàs demands greater involvement from the municipal government team, formed by Guanyem, Junts and ERC. In his opinion, the City Council cannot be a direct party as it is a private company, but it can act as an intermediary and facilitate the parties sitting down to negotiate, considering that it is also involved in the conflict.
The president of Girona Neta i Digna also maintains that the improvements demanded by the staff are reasonable and considers logical the request linked to the salary increase.
In the same vein, the president of the CAV, Roger Casero, admits that the scenario worries them about how the strike may evolve and about the consequences it would have for the city on some especially sensitive dates.
"More waste is generated, and there is concern about the accumulation of dirt" - Roger Casero, president of the CAV
Casero recalls that during Temps de Flors there is a large influx of visitors and that a cleaning stoppage would not only affect an aesthetic issue, but also a functional one. He also emphasizes that these are days when services are intensified and trusts that the negotiation can be channeled before reaching a strike because they are critical dates for Girona.
The entities see improvements in the service, but still with incidents
Jordi Tomàs and Roger Casero agree that the service has improved in recent months with the entry into operation of the new generation of containers. Even so, both entities believe that there is still room for correction in several points of the system.
Tomàs points out that zones persist where overflowing containers or bags on the ground habitually appear. He also points to problems with the bins in Montjuïc and to nuisances due to noises that, in his understanding, must be resolved.
Casero, for his part, points out that an accumulation of furniture and other bulky waste is still detected, just as it happened before, and hopes that the reorganization of the service will end up translating into an improvement in the percentage of selective collection.
Among the aspects pending adjustment, it mentions the routes, the collection in temporary areas, the door-to-door system, and the way to complement it with the emergency areas. In this last case, it proposes that more fractions can be deposited in those spaces.
The negotiation remains open, with the calendar running against it. If there is no agreement before May 4, Girona risks facing the prelude to Temps de Flors with a labor conflict in a service considered essential.