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MADRID (AP) - A trash collectors' strike that left Madrid's streets piled high with garbage has ended after 13 days, with workers voting to accept a deal hammered out by trade unions and employers.
Unions called the strike when Madrid's municipal cleaning companies announced plans to lay off more than 1,000 workers and pay cuts for some 5,000 street cleaners, park workers and garbage collectors.
The return to work Sunday comes after the companies canceled the threatened layoffs in exchange for improved efficiency and a wage freeze until 2017.
The strike's end coincides with sustained rains that were threatening to block drains with garbage and leaves as winter approaches.
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