Hope for end to bin battle as warring sides call in Acas

HOPES have been raised of a breakthrough in the city's long-running bin dispute after council chiefs and trade union leaders agreed to refer the matter to conciliation service Acas.

Unite and the city council decided to pass the dispute to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service at a meeting held yesterday afternoon.

The meeting took place after bin men chose to reject a proposal earlier this month that could have seen the 14-month dispute ended. The ballot, which was held at the council's Powderhall depot on August 13, saw 84 per cent of the 153 workers taking part reject the "future state" proposals.

In a briefing sent to council members following yesterday's meeting, Mark Turley, the council's director of services for communities, said: "It has been agreed that both sides will jointly refer this matter to Acas for conciliation efforts.

"At the meeting Unite asked if it was management's intention to impose changes, and management responded that imposition would be the last resort. The 'Future State' proposals were clearly the council's final offer but both sides agreed that Acas should be given the opportunity to conciliate before decisions are made about next steps."

Acas was also drafted in to end the British Airways industrial dispute, with the arbitration service unveiling a new set of proposals in June.

Yesterday's decision was welcomed by Councillor Andrew Burns, leader of the Labour group on the council.

He said: "I welcome the involvement of Acas, which we specifically asked for many months ago, only for it to be rejected by the council administration.

"I do now hope that the dispute can be brought to a quick conclusion and that the residents of Edinburgh will see a normal service resume at the earliest opportunity."

A refuse collector in the city, who didn't want to be named, added: "We have been asking to refer the matter to Acas for the last 12 months, if not more, but the council refused.

"I don't know if Acas will resolve the matter, we will just need to wait and see. Everybody is wanting something sorted out but you have got to protect your wages.

"I hope Acas come out with something positive, this can't go on forever. We are not asking for a pay rise, but I'm certainly not taking a pay cut."

A council spokesman said the decision to seek help from Acas could only come after every possible option for resolving the dispute had been exhausted.He said: "The proposals rejected by the union members were the best the council could offer but we are very open to seeing if conciliation can produce a way forward."

Stephen MacGregor, convener of the Unite union in Edinburgh, added: "Hopefully Acas can help resolve the dispute."

The industrial action first started at the end of June 2009, with an unofficial work-to-rule being launched, which became an official industrial action around one month later.