Sint-Jans-Molenbeek (The Brussels Morning Newspaper): Street cleaners in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek ended their strike on September 19 after failed negotiations with Mayor Catherine Moureaux. Only 32 sweepers serve nearly 100,000 residents, highlighting severe staffing issues.
The street sweepers’ strike in Sint-Jans-Molenbeek ended on the 19th of September in the morning after a meeting with Mayor Catherine Moureaux didn’t go well. Union rep Mohamed Adllal said the talks failed because the mayor wouldn’t accept their ideas, and he criticized her for not wanting to negotiate further. Now, even though the strike is over, there’s still a lot of tension, and the mayor hasn’t said anything yet because she’s not available. This has left the community and union members waiting for updates on how the situation will be resolved and what it means for city services.
What are the demands of Molenbeek street cleaners amid the ongoing strike?
Since September 12, street sweepers and cleaners in Molenbeek have been on strike because their jobs are very hard. Most of the workers are between 45 and 63 years old and find it tough to do the work. Many of them have health issues like hernias and back pain from the heavy lifting. The strike shows that there are big worries about how they are treated at work and how hard their jobs are. Many workers can’t handle the current amount of work, which is too much for them. It has been said that this situation shows that it’s important to make working conditions better and may point to bigger problems in how city services are managed and how the health of workers is taken care of.
The unions for street sweepers and cleaners in Molenbeek want to make things better for the workers. They are asking for higher pay because the jobs are tough, and they suggest that workers over 55 should only work four days a week to help with their health. They also want to hire more workers to share the heavy workload. Recently, the unions stopped their strike after a frustrating meeting with the mayor, who didn’t want to talk about solutions. Now, they are considering extending the strike to other city services if things don’t improve.
