Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon bin strike could reignite unless formal offer submitted, warns trade union official

The council was rocked by a strike involving members of three trade unions - Unite, GMB and Nipsa - that went on for over a month and caused a severe buildup of rubbish as bin collections and other services were halted, until the industrial action was suspended when a deal was agreed between unions and the employer.

But the deal has yet to be formally put to the trade unions as work continues on the details surrounding certain terms and conditions in the deal.

GMB official Alan Perry, speaking to the News Letter, warned that the dispute could resurface if there is no progress in the coming days.

"They [the council] have to put the final proposals together," he said. "In all honesty they should have had this done already. We have another meeting around this, and what we're going to be saying is this needs to be done and dusted so that we have something to take back to members.

"If we don't see a resolution, we may need to consider our next steps.

"The dispute could be reignited if we don’t see that happen.”

Nipsa official Kevin Kelly, also speaking to the News Letter, said the framework of the deal had been agreed but the employers were still in the process of "dotting the Is and crossing the Ts".

He added: "This should have been done in advance, before the deal was put forward."

Meanwhile, strike action by members of the Unite trade union is continuing in the Lisburn and Castlereagh council. Both the Nipsa and GMB trade unions have balloted members in that area with a majority in favour of strike action. A pay deal has been put forward by the council and the GMB and Nipsa union members are expected to decide in the coming days whether they will join Unite on strike while the pay offer is considered.

The Newry, Mourne and Down council, where Siptu, Nipsa, GMB and Unite members had also backed strike action, is expected to formalise a pay offer in the coming days.