Bin strike off after council chiefs ‘cave in’ to union

A BIN strike that turned a city’s streets into a stinking mess was called off yesterday after a council ‘caved in’ to militant unions.

Refuse collections are now expected to return to normal after Unite agreed a deal with Birmingham Council.

While long-suffering residents welcomed the end of the bitter sevenweek strike, the settlement prompted claims that the Labour-run local authority had simply given in to the union’s demands.

It raises fears that bin strikes could spread, with one already planned for Doncaster later this month.

The union, which had threatened to continue the strikes until Christmas, said the council had agreed to keep the jobs of workers who monitor safety at the back of trucks with no loss of pay. In return, Unite has agreed ‘in principle’ to recommend new work patterns to members, including ‘consideration of a five-day working week’ instead of the present four days. The

‘They could have done this weeks ago’

agreement follows talks involving the conciliation service Acas.

Conservative councillor Robert Alden said: ‘So the council has just caved in. This could have been done seven weeks ago and saved the people of this city a lot of hardship and disruption.’

Workers had been staging daily walkouts, leaving rubbish to pile up in the street with some areas infested with rats, maggots and flies.

The dispute was sparked when the council announced plans to cut £5million from its budget by modernising waste services.

The council said it had to make the service more productive after an £8.4million overspend on overtime and agency staff last year, which meant cutting 113 jobs.

In Doncaster, Unite members employed by private firm Suez are to stage two five- day walkouts on August 23 and September 2 in a dispute over pay and jobs.