MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - About 100,000 unionized workers with Mexico City's municipal government will start a 72-hour strike on Tuesday after failing to reach an accord with authorities on 16 issues, including vacation bonuses and rehiring hospital staff, officials said late on Monday.þþA government spokeswoman said talks between union leaders for the city workers and the left-wing government of Mayor Manuel Andres Lopez Obrador failed to reach agreement and the three-day strike would start at 4 a.m. local time.þþWorkers for the city government will not sweep streets, collect garbage or control water flows to the capital, which including surrounding urban areas, is home to 18 million people.þþHospitals run by the city government would have only ''skeleton'' services, sources said.þþUnion leader Jose Medel, quoted by local media, said there would be just 8,000 workers doing shifts for essential services, including health.þþ``There's no agreement,'' Angelica Patino, a spokeswoman for the city government told Reuters. Talks would continue on Tuesday, she said, but the city union planned to strike.þþLopez Obrador, tipped to be a presidential candidate for the left wing in 2005, dubbed the union demands as ''blackmail.''þ
Source: NY Times
