Three days after a court decreed a strike by Athens rubbish collectors illegal, the capital’s malodorous garbage mounds continued to grow yesterday as the municipal council ruled out any disciplinary action against the strikers.

“There will be neither persecution, nor sackings nor fines,” the Athens municipal council said in a statement yesterday, adding that it found the strikers’ main demand — permanent jobs for rubbish collectors on short contracts — reasonable. But the council said strikers should take up their case with the Interior Ministry, which has jurisdiction over public sector and local authority hirings.

On Monday, when the rolling 48-hour strikes were launched — and ruled illegal by an Athens court — the ministry told unionists to discuss their problems with the mayor.

Deputy Interior Minister Lambros Papadimas said the government did not plan to mobilize the strikers, but added that the council was responsible for disciplinary action. The council advised Athenians to keep their rubbish at home.