More than nine months after Birmingham City Council and union bosses struck a deal to end last year's bin strike, it has yet to be implemented.
The latest target date for the introduction of new roles and working practices, including a five-day week, sailed past a September 1 deadline with no sign of a resolution.
Birmingham City Council and Unite union bosses have been locked in talks over the detail of deal since the strike was ended in November 2017.
The deal involved the middle ranking ‘leading hand’ staff being assured they could keep their current salary grade, if they accepted new roles and responsibilities for driving up recycling rates in the city. They had previously been threatened with redundancy.
It also involved the service moving to a five day standard working week, rather than the same hours spread over four longer working days.
But they are still locked in negotiations over the detail of introducing that deal.
Council bosses at first hoped the new ways of working would be in place by April. Then, after failing to meet that deadline, council leader Ian Ward said they would be in place by September 1.
Meanwhile, the bins service is overspending its budget by £300,000 a month, that’s £1.5 million since April, while operating under the old system.
With both sides maintaining a silence as the talks continue, there are still hopes that the final issues will be ironed out and the deal can be implemented later in the month.
However one source, on the edge of the negotiations, says that there is little chance of a full break down in relations.
“They seem to be making progress," he said.
"I would say the chance of any more strike action is 20 per cent, a few weeks ago it seemed nearer 50-50.”
There have also been multiple management changes in the Birmingham bin service.
These include an assistant director who was in post for just two months earlier this year before leaving, adding further complications to the negotiations.
