Montreal's blue-collar workers walked off the job at midnight for a 24-hour strike.
The 5,000 workers have not had a contract since August 2007. The main issues are salaries and subcontracting.
Union president Michel Parent says they have been waiting for the city to make its latest offer since last June.
The city says it will wait until the union makes all its demands before making a counter-offer.
Monday's one-day strike will affect garbage and recycling collection, road repair, and other construction projects, although a skeleton crew will be on call in case urgent repairs are needed for sewers or roads.
Employees will return to work, and resume their normal duties, at the stroke of midnight on Monday night.
The majority of boroughs won't be affected by the strike because the garbage collection and recycling pickup will be carried out by private contractors as usual.
However, services will be affected in the following boroughs:
Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Plateau-Mont-Royal Southwest: recycling will be picked up on Sept. 7
Villeray-Saint-Michel-Park-Extension: recycling will be picked up on Sept. 1
Cote-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grace, Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie: garbage collection will be delayed until Sept. 2
Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Rivi�re-des-Praires-Pointe-aux-Trembles: garbage will not be collected on Aug. 31, and residents should put out garbage later in the week, for the usual second pickup
For more details, check out the city of Montreal's official, French-only notice.
