Coventry bin strike ends after six months

The strike that was originally planned for two months lasted six

A bitter pay dispute between Coventry bin lorry drivers and a city council has ended after six months.

Drivers have been on an all-out strike since 31 January, but on Friday, Unite the Union and Coventry City Council finalised an agreement.

In a statement, Unite said the strike ended with a pay rise for the drivers worth up to 12.9%.

However, Andrew Walster from the council said he was "frustrated" with how long the deal took to make.

"This deal could have been agreed much sooner. The core elements regarding the minimum salary for bin lorry drivers has been on the table since January this year," the director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services at Coventry City Council said.

'Victory'

Unite said that the 12.9% is worth an estimated £3,600 per year in workers pay packets and that the deal also included Christmas bonuses worth some £4,000.

The union called the end of the strike a "victory".

But, Mr Walster said that "the biggest frustration has been the disruption households have at times had to endure because of this action".

In March, trucks were unable to leave Tom White Waste, a council-owned waste management firm brought in to help with missed collections while Unite bin lorry drivers were on strike.

There was another delay in May, when a protest outside the waste management company took place.

Some residents experienced their rubbish not being collected for up to five weeks and delays over the Christmas period.

The labour-ran authority claims that the dispute has meant it has had to deal with a net cost pressure of more than £4m, through a mixture of paying for mitigation measures and a substantial loss in commercial waste income.

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