The strike by municipal services workers in Manacor has been put on hold. A meeting of workers employed by Lumsa, the contractor, agreed on Friday evening to suspend the strike for ten days. Further negotiations between the works committee, the company and the town hall are to take place in order to seek a definitive settlement.
The decision to suspend the strike followed a meeting in the afternoon with Lumsa representatives. It was a turnaround in what had seemed like a stand-off between the parties. Meetings at the arbitration and mediation tribunal on Thursday had come to nothing.
The CCOO union's representative, Miguel Ángel Pardo, had expressed his disappointment at the end of Thursday's four-hour meeting. He had called on the councillor for the environment, Pedro Rosselló, to resign, saying that Rosselló was incapable of negotiating and hadn't bothered to meet an appointment with town hall officials who are trying to work on an agreement.
Rubbish-collection and street-cleaning staff are employed by the contractor Lumsa-FCC on behalf of the town hall. The contract is due to run out in October. The union is wanting a 14% pay increase in order to guarantee a monthly salary of 1,000 euros.