Unite rejects call to end Coventry bin strikes after Acas ruling

Unite is currently balloting members on strikes into June and the results are expected to be known early next week

Bin strikes in Coventry will not be cancelled, a union says, despite claims by the city council that independent arbitrators had backed its position.

Since the end of January, about 75 drivers have been holding all-out strikes in the dispute, mainly over pay.

The local authority said on Wednesday arbitration service Acas had agreed with its pay grades.

The Unite union rejected the outcome, describing the meeting as a "farce".

In advance of the Acas decision it is believed both the council and Unite had agreed to be bound by the ruling.

However, Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said the process had been "based on an old, discredited job evaluation system" and hit out at what she described as a "toxic mix of malevolence and incompetence" at the Labour-run local authority.

She again accused the council of wasting taxpayers' money, and claimed the dispute "could be resolved in minutes".

On Wednesday, the city council said Acas had ruled the drivers should be paid a Grade 5 salary, adding they "already were".

A spokesperson said the decision supported its position that its drivers were among the best paid in the West Midlands and strikes should be "called off immediately".

Private contractor

It also said it was prepared to table again an offer to boost pay for drivers at the bottom of their pay scale from £11.50 an hour to £12.45.

The dispute has turned increasingly bitter in recent months as both the union and council have criticised the others' claims about drivers' pay.

Due to the industrial action several temporary sites have been introduced by the local authority for residents to drop off waste.

Council-owned private contractor Tom White Waste has also been used to collect bins.

Unite is currently balloting members on strikes beyond 23 March and the results are expected to be known early next week.