News of: Tuesday, April 27 2010,
The garbage collectors in Amsterdam have announced they will not clean the city for 24 hours, during Queens Day on April 30.
Queens Day is basically a big outdoor party, attracting about 500,000 people every year. After the day is over, the city is full of garbage: things that were not sold on the outdoor market, and lots and lots of plastic beer glasses and other garbage. On the busy places downtown, the street is normally covered with rubbish.
The city said it would go to court, in order to get a prohibition of the strike, on the grounds of public health hazard and public safety. The unions had first said they would go on strike for a week, starting Queens Day, and apparently they now think this will be prohibited by the court.
In addition, the cleaners will strike again on May 6, for an entire week. In this week, the start of the Giro D'Italia takes place in Amsterdam. This is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists. The start of the Giro is in Amsterdam, and this is a big event too.
The city has said it accepts the strike on Queens Day, but it still considers going to court over the one-week strike starting May 6.
