Birmingham Bin Strike: Council Back Down!

BIN collections in Birmingham are to resume after weeks of mounting rubbish caused misery for the city's residents.  Industrial action has been suspended as progress was made in a long-running dispute involving refuse collection workers, conciliation service Acas said.

Before the latest development the Unite union had warned that the dispute could last until Christmas, with workers campaigning against plans to cut more than 100 waste collection jobs.

What we know so far says the Birmingham Mail:  The bin strike which has crippled Birmingham for almost two months has been suspended.
The breakthrough came after the city council and the Unite union held talks via the Acas conciliation service.
The news means the mountains of rubbish left festering on the city's streets since the dispute began in June will finally be cleared, although there was no immediate timescale for the clean-up.
The resolution will bring joy to residents who have had to cope with packed bin bags piled high, while flies, maggots and rats were widely reported.
Acas has said in a statement:
'Birmingham City Council and Unite the Union have today made sufficient progress in their talks for the Shop Stewards to pause industrial action.
'Birmingham City Council cabinet members have agreed in principle that the grade 3 posts will be maintained.
'Consequently there are no redundancy steps in place.
'In addition the parties will now look to discuss, through ACAS, how the service can be improved, with the intention of improving efficiencies in performance of the bin collection service generally, including what savings can be made, and specifically how best the current Grade 3 roles can now be maintained and developed so that they take forward the ambition to deliver cleaner streets and align to wider Total Place principles.
 'Unite have also agreed in principle to recommend to their members work pattern changes, including consideration of a five-day working week.
'Both parties agree the working week should be designed to maximise service delivery.
'To assist in the resolution of outstanding issues both parties will go to ACAS.
'These discussions will be with the intention of incorporating any agreement as an amendment to the Waste Management Service Cabinet Report in September 2017.
'Both parties are pleased to be recommencing industrial relations and pleased that the bin collection can resume without disruption.'
Acas said the parties had made 'sufficient' progress in their talks for industrial action to be paused, with council cabinet members agreeing in principle that Grade 3 posts will be maintained, and consequently there are no redundancy steps in place.
Unite has also agreed in principle to recommend to its members work pattern changes, including consideration of a five-day working week, Acas said, with both parties agreeing that the working week should be designed to maximise service delivery.
Discussions are set to continue on how the service can be improved, with the intention of improving efficiencies in performance of the bin collection service generally, including what savings can be made.
To assist in the resolution of outstanding issues both parties will go to Acas.
Unite said the Grade 3 jobs are responsible for the safety at the rear of the refuse vehicles.
There are now expectation that similar conflicts will occur across the country, and Doncaster has been mentioned as an area of conflict in the near future.