[Palermo] The latest garbage collectors strike in Palermo is taking a toll on residents and tourists alike.

Eyewitness reports are describing piles of garbage bags that are three to four feet high and in some places - blocks long. Heavy rains have created “rivers of garbage”, as witnessed in the video accompanying this story.

Health concerns are high as previous strikes in June led to unsafe conditions due to the random fires that were sparked throughout the city. Arrests were made in conjunction with those fires, but surveillance of the garbage has proven to be exhausting of other city resources.

At the core of the strike is high taxes for waste management, coupled with need for new collection equipment and the collector’s union belief that municipal employers from AMIA will reneg on paying the union members.

Up until recently, waste management was under the control of organized crime families. They city council agrees that the city has repeatedly been in a “waste state of emergency”.

Shopkeepers are at their wits end as all alternative avenues for the collection of waste are being outlawed and considered “stealing” from the municipality.

For over a hundred years now, “Cenciaioli”, have offered freelance services to remove recyclable waste for business owners at anywhere from 25 to 50 Euros per day, depending on the removed materials. Cenciaioli consists of no-to-low income families looking for a way to make additional money to make ends meet. Beginning in January of ‘09 authorities began implementing sanctions against the Cenciaioli in hopes of controlling some of the problems. At this point it appears as though the problem has become worst as a direct result of banning the Cenciaoli.

Residents, business owners and opposing political parties are calling to Rome in hopes of some intervention to help bring this disaster under control.