The strike will take place just after Carnaval, when there will be a lot of rubbish scattered around the city.

The gemeente, despite the strike taking place during the Carnaval period, may not hire an external party to clean up the streets. That would be a strike break. Also, no additional services will be introduced after the strike and the regular schedule will simply be maintained thereafter. It will be a complicated situation, where Aarts understands both city management services and residents will be affected.

Gemeente Maastricht: "From Wednesday 22 February to Tuesday 28 February, many of our employees who collect waste and keep the city clean will be on strike. This will affect some of our services. We understand that this may cause inconvenience, but ask for your understanding."

For further information about the strikes in English, go to the Gemeente Maastricht website.

Watch the coverage of the announcement of the strikes (in Dutch) below.