Employees of the Jerusalem municipality announced they would not show up for work as of late Saturday night.
The workers’ committee for the city of Jerusalem declared a general strike which actually began on Thursday with a job action by the sanitation workers.
Garbage began to pile up at the Mahane Yehuda open area market in the center of the capital.
The work action was called in response to the dismissal of 2,150 city employees over the city’s dispute with the Finance Ministry, which resulted from the ministry’s refusal to further increase the “capital grant,” the city’s annual budget.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat reportedly asked the union to hold off on a strike, especially in the case of the education and sanitation departments.
There were reports earlier in the evening on Saturday night that some Jerusalem residents expressed their anger over the sanitation workers’ strike by scattering trash around the home of Mayor Barkat.
All city services will be affected except the schools.