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It’s been an eventful couple of days in Greece, where prime minister Alexis Tsipras has held emergency talks with striking municipal rubbish collectors over demands for expiring short-term contracts to be replaced with permanent jobs.

With the sweltering heat fuelling mounting concerns that mounds of uncollected rubbish could soon become a public health risk, Tsipras invited unionists representing the workers to his office for talks last night.

In a statement his office said the invitation was addressed to unionists “to find a solution to the claims of the refuge workers and to avoid the dangers to public heath” posed by the prolonged strike” and very high temperatures that are expected in the coming days.”



Earlier today, scuffles broke out between unionists and security guards outside the building housing the prime minister’s quarters when attempts were made to unfold banners emblazoned with slogans and demands.

Cleaners scuffle with plain clothes policemen as they attempt to open a banner during a protest action outside the Greek Prime Minister office, in Athens today Photograph: Yannis Kolesidis/EPA

The meeting is being described as critical by insiders who say given the heat wave now gripping Greece - and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of tourists in the capital alone - the strike has become a major political issue.

How Tsipras will be able to negotiate his way out of the crisis - and keep labour reform demanding international creditors on board - is anyone’s guess.