The Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Contracting of the Arrecife City Council, Echedey Eugenio, and the Councillor for Cleaning, Jacobo Lemes, announce that this Wednesday, June 4, an agreement has been reached that puts an end to the labor conflict in the municipal solid waste collection service and deactivates the indefinite strike whose start was scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, June 5.
Thanks to the direct mediation of the two municipal officials, the parties have signed an agreement that guarantees social peace in the service until the end of the current contract with the concessionaire company Urbaser.
After weeks of negotiations, the City Council has managed to bring together the company and the legal representation of the workers in a climate of dialogue that has allowed to unblock the conflict and reach a solid commitment. Both parties have shown their willingness to resume negotiations on the collective agreement and to actively collaborate in the definition of the conditions of the new contracting specifications that will govern the service once the current contract concludes in 2026.
The Deputy Mayor and Councillor for Contracting, Echedey Eugenio, has underlined "the responsibility and willingness to understand demonstrated by all the actors involved", and has thanked "the shared effort to reach an agreement that guarantees labor stability and protects an essential service for Arrecife".
In this sense, the Councillor for Cleaning, Jacobo Lemes, has highlighted that "although it is a conflict between the company and its staff, we have not remained on the sidelines. We have facilitated dialogue and mediation to avoid a strike that would have had a very negative impact on public health and citizen well-being".
For his part, César Reyes, general secretary of UGT, wanted to expressly thank the City Council for its involvement in this process and pointed out that "institutional intermediation has been key for this agreement to have been possible".
The Arrecife City Council "will continue to supervise the fulfillment of the current contract, ensuring both the quality of the service and the labor rights of the workers, and reaffirms its willingness to dialogue to guarantee the continuity of public services in optimal conditions".
In addition to the commitment to maintain employment stability until the end of the contract, the agreement includes the start of joint work between the company, the workers and the City Council to improve working conditions through the future contracting specifications.
