Wirral bin worker strike called off after pay offer accepted

Staff at Biffa Waste Management walked out for a week in early December

Strikes by waste collection workers in Wirral have been called off after an improved pay offer was accepted.

Unite members employed by Biffa Waste Management held a week-long strike in early December and had planned further industrial action from Wednesday.

Union officer John McColl said more than 200 members had secured a 15% pay rise backdated to April.

A Biffa spokeswoman said services would now resume and "any missed collections will be picked up as soon as possible".

Wirral Council said Biffa employees resumed work on Wednesday but would will take time for kerbside waste collections to return fully to their regular schedule.

The council said additional crews would be collecting green bins between Wednesday and Friday "from all roads that were still outstanding even after last week's catch-up operation".

Everyone else should return to putting their bins out on regularly scheduled dates, though collections "may be later than usual due to catch-up", the council added.

Mr McColl said: "Following renewed negotiations, an improved offer was put forward from Biffa which our members voted to accept.

"The dispute has now ended and strike action has been cancelled".

A Biffa spokeswoman said: "We are pleased to have reached an agreed pay deal."

Unite said class 2 HGV drivers would also see their hourly rates increase by £1.49 on top of the 15% pay rise.

From April, the workers will get a further increase of 7-9%, depending on the rate of inflation, the union added.

The council said street and alleyway cleansing will resume immediately with priority given to high footfall areas.