Dutch railway company NS is considering handing out rubbish bags to passengers in an effort to stop trains becoming too dirty because of the ongoing strike by cleaners, news agency ANP reports.

The company is also considering using its own office staff to clean up compartments where the rubbish bins are overflowing, a spokesman said.

NS has already written to the FNV trade union and to employers’ organisation OSB urging them to get around the negotiating table. ‘Train users are always the dupe,’ the spokesman told Nos. ‘And if things get out of hand, we are forced to intervene.’

Train cleaners have been on strike since last Tuesday in protest at the breakdown of negotiations for a new pay and conditions agreement. In particular, the union is demanding that cleaners do not lose two days pay for the first two days they are off sick.

Rail users’ lobby group Rover said it has received many complaints about the state of the trains. However, passengers can also make a contribution by taking their rubbish with them and not turning the train into a ‘rubbish bin on wheels’, the organisation was quoted as saying.