Striking municipal workers in Vancouver are mad that some good Samaritans took it upon themselves to remove trash from a beach.

"We just thought it was the right thing to do. Come down and keep it clean down here," said Jeffrey Miller of Houston Landscapes on Friday.

His group and some church members removed 40 bags of trash left by spectators after the Celebration of Lights
fireworks display the previous night.

One striker said the Houston volunteers weren't scabs, but that what they were doing was wrong.

"They're still doing our job," "Louis" told CTV British Columbia.

"So as a business, as a corporation going in to do our work, they're taking work away from us, and we have every right to stop them from doing so."

Louis said even by volunteering, those individuals were taking work away.

People enjoying the trash-free beach on Friday afternoon didn't sympathize with the union's position.

Miller said they didn't mean to offend. "We support all of the hard work that CUPE members do on a daily basis clean and beautiful on a daily basis. I mean, you notice it when they're not here."

The Houston team won't be back out on Sunday morning to clean up after Saturday night's fireworks, he said.

CTV B.C.'s Renu Bakshi said that CUPE filed a complaint, saying the city recruited the firm, but the company insists they were just volunteers.

 Bakshi also reported that London Drugs had offered to remove garbage for people if they came to two locations, picked up bags and returned with the trash late that night.

Vancouver's outside workers walked off the job a week ago. Inside workers joined them this week.

Talks resumed Friday morning between the city and the 2,700 inside workers.

The 1,800 outside workers aren't officially involved in talks. Some workers told CTV B.C. that they were optimistic the strike wouldn't drag on much longer.

The city of Richmond reached a five-year deal Wednesday with its workforce. That tentative agreement gives the workers an 18.5 per cent raise plus improved benefits and working conditions.

With a report from CTV's Renu Bakshi