Council offer in city bin strike

The council's offer will now be considered by workers.

An end to the six-week long bin strike in Leeds could be in sight after unions said they would consider an offer by the city council.

The package will be put to members, with a vote on whether to accept its terms likely to be held next week.

Refuse workers employed by the authority have been striking since 7 September in a row over proposed cuts to their pay.

The offer follows a series of talks between the council and unions.

Neil Derrick of the GMB union said: "The negotiations were concluded on Wednesday. They were long, detailed and quite complex, but we have come to the position where we have a final package proposal from the council.

"We will be explaining in detail what the proposals mean to our members, giving them time to reflect, and then to vote on whether we have achieved what we have set out to achieve.

"The biggest driving force was that we had been sitting with our members facing savage pay cuts. Many of our members were literally fighting to keep a roof over their heads, so the detail [of the offer] has been important."

We are pleased there is a resolution on the horizon Leeds City Council spokesman

Mr Derrick said the council had made some concessions, but they did not wish to divulge any further details of the offer.

"The workers have all come out together and we want to make sure that, if they decide to do so, they all go back in together," he added.

"That means ensuring every category of worker has a proposal which is satisfactory."

Mr Derrick said the strike had "always been about the workers".

"It is their dispute and at the end of the day, it is them who will decide," he added.

Leeds City Council said the talks had been "constructive and productive".

"We are pleased there is a resolution on the horizon," a spokesman said.

Council leader Richard Brett said: "I believe we now have a proposal on the table which is good for our staff as well as the people of Leeds."

The GMB and Unison unions will discuss details of the package with shop stewards and members on Friday.