More than 30,000 tons of trash piled up on Athenian sidewalks yesterday as rubbish collectors decided to extend their strike for a seventh straight day today.

Municipal garbage workers are continuing their protest for another 24 hours after a meeting of representatives from the municipal workers’ union POE-OTA with Deputy Interior Minister Thanassis Nakos failed to satisfy their demands. Workers are seeking higher pay and better benefits.

Heaps of rotting rubbish — gathering at a rate of 5,000 tons a day — have begun to spill on to roads, making some of the city’s narrower streets difficult to navigate.

Municipal crews sprayed the mounds of garbage with disinfectant to reduce risks to public health, but experts said they doubted the measure would be effective.

According to the National Technical University of Athens, the rubbish is releasing toxic gases which cause gastroenteritis and nausea.

Scuffles broke out on Sunday between striking municipal workers and police at the Ano Liosia landfill after authorities intervened to reopen the site to workers not participating in the strike. About five protesters were detained but later released.

The workers are scheduled to meet again today to decide on their next move.

Meanwhile, residents from the Ano Liosia landfill set fire to bags of trash outside the Interior Ministry and demanded the dump be removed from their neighborhood.