Coventry City Council calls for end of bin strikes after Acas ruling

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham visited striking lorry drivers last week

Coventry City Council has called on the Unite union to halt strikes by bin lorry drivers, saying independent arbitration service Acas had backed the local authority's position.

The long-running dispute, mainly over pay, has seen all-out strikes since the end of January.

A ballot to extend action beyond 23 March opened on Monday.

However, on Wednesday the council said Acas had found the drivers were being paid an appropriate level.

It said the ruling established the drivers should receive a "Grade 5 salary - which they are already paid".

The BBC has approached Unite for a response.

About 75 drivers have been involved in the strikes.

The dispute has become increasingly bitter, with both the union and council criticising the other side's claims regarding drivers' pay.

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham has also got involved, accusing the local authority of wasting taxpayers' money.

The strike has seen the council introduce several temporary sites for residents to drop off waste and use council-owned private contractor Tom White Waste to collect bins.

'A good wage'

Speaking last week, the council said both parties had agreed to be bound by the pay grade established by Acas.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the local authority said: "The [Acas] decision further evidences what the council has been saying all along - that it already pays bin lorry drivers a good wage that is one of the highest in the West Midlands."

As a result, the council said it was "calling on the strike to be called off immediately".

It said an offer remained on the table for a £4,000, tax-free payment to buy out a 1999 agreement covering "a number of issues such as Christmas week working and collecting side waste".

The local authority added it was also willing to re-table an offer to increase pay for drivers at the bottom of their pay scale from £11.50 an hour to £12.45.

Andrew Walster, the officer in charge of refuse collections at the city council, told BBC CWR he was "optimistic" the Acas decision would lead to the end of strikes.

A ballot of drivers to extend the strike until June began on 7 March, with the results expected early next week.