The tonnes of rubbish piled up across Madrid's Metro network will be removed within the next 24 hours after the 1,500 workers affected voted to accept a deal struck yesterday between the trade unions that represent them - UGT, CGT, USO, CNT and SUT - and the four companies subcontracted by Madrid Metro that employ them.

The four companies - Valoriza, Clece, Eurolimp and Ferroser - have agreed to a series of demands to be implemented before 2011 concerning job security, pay and working conditions, and will also re-hire 70 workers sacked during the dispute, bringing to an end the three-week strike that started on the 17th December.

More than 500 acts of vandalism - many alleged to have been committed by the strikers themselves - were caught on Madrid Metro cctv cameras and have been reported to the police, who have so far managed to identify 22 individuals.

Metro strikers sacked amid accusations of vandalism
By: thinkSPAIN
Friday, December 28, 2007

With mountains of stinking rubbish continuing to pile up across the capital's Metro network, the current cleaning staff strike shows no sign of ending after trade unions and representatives of the four companies involved failed to reach an agreement at a Boxing Day meeting.

Indeed, after nearly two weeks, it seems that the two sides may be further apart than ever as fifty strikers have since been sacked "for committing acts of vandalism and failing to provide minimum services."

Furthermore, Madrid Metro security tapes that purportedly show strikers deliberately tipping rubbish and painting graffiti have been handed over to the police, and it has been decided that security guards will be deployed to supervise cleaners to ensure no further similar incidents.

For their part, a spokesman for the strikers, who are calling for improved working conditions and pay, claimed that the cleaners are considering withdrawing their services completely and insist that "some of those who have been sacked could not even leave home as they are on sick leave." 

Madrid Metro cleaners clash over strike
By: thinkSPAIN
Thursday, December 20, 2007

There were scuffles between pickets and 'black-leg' Metro cleaners at the Plaza Elíptica, Callao, Bilbao and Alvarado stations in Madrid during the early hours of last Tuesday morning on the second day of the current "indefinite" strike. The incident at Plaza Elíptica escalated to such an extent that Local Police officers were forced to intervene to disperse the brawling protesters. 

UGT trade union spokesman, Francisco Canseco, slammed the presence of "staff being brought in illegally from outside the company" to clean various stations on Lines 3, 8 and Metrosur.

The protest continues despite a meeting between strikers and representatives of four other cleaning contractors at Madrid Employment Institute yesterday.