Binmen pay row strike suspended

About 250 refuse workers went on strike on Monday

Refuse workers in Brighton and Hove have halted a strike after accepting a new pay offer, the GMB union has said.

The action was suspended when about 250 GMB members voted to accept the latest offer put forward by the city council on Tuesday morning.

A GMB spokesman told the BBC they had suspended their industrial action for four weeks while the details of the settlement were sorted out.

The strike started on Monday and was due to continue for a week.

They began working to rule on Thursday and stopped work completely at 0530 GMT on Monday.

Equal pay

Brighton and Hove City Council leader Mary Mears did not reveal details of the offer, but said the council was delighted it had been accepted.

"This is about equal pay for low paid women," she said.

"We've put forward an offer that hopefully will protect the pay of our workers while balancing our duty not to bankrupt the council, or pass on unnecessary cost to the taxpayer."

She said arrangements were being made to clear the backlog of refuse.

"We have a really good workforce and I know that once they go back to work they will endeavour to ensure the city is brought back to its proper clean state."

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Binmen give their reaction to the vote to call off the strike over equal pay