Council and union bosses have agreed to meet tomorrow (Sunday 17 October) for last-ditch talks aimed at ending the strike by bin lorry drivers.
The current strike at City clean – Brighton and Hove City Council’s rubbish and recycling service – is due to end tomorrow.
But a second strike is due to start on Thursday (21 October) and could last until Sunday 21 November.
Both sides met at Hove Town Hall yesterday but failed to reach a deal after more than nine hours of talks about pay and conditions.
They are understood to have agreed to an outside arbitrator being called in if there is no breakthrough – a move that councillors called for at a special meeting three days ago.
But as yet, officials are not believed to have sought a dispensation that would enable rubbish to be collected from bin stores at blocks of flats.
Fire crews have already tackled a number of small fires as rubbish has piled up on the streets, at recycling points and elsewhere.
And yesterday fire chiefs urged people to be vigilant, with a warning about carelessly discarded cigarettes and fears that an arsonist could start a blaze.
“dispensation”? from who to who and what and why? bring that pope/judge in again = the fact is the law allows for the employer to “break” the strike if the trade union shifts the basis of the original dispute = bizarre situation that the employer asks the union for permission to save peoples’ lives….
Residents need to be given a list of all the union’s demamds.
Would council staff employed to deliver non-statutory services lose their jobs if the GMB wins a bigger pay package? Finances are so tight it seems as if some jobs would have to be cut to fund any deal with the GMB that breaks the current budget. That would be a sad outcome for the employees who’d lose their livelihoods. Maybe their unions should speak out?