How did we get to this

THE dispute started at the end of last year when the city council confirmed its intention to 'delete' the role of a senior position on its bin trucks, called a Waste Recycling Collections Officer, as part of its plans to transform the under-performing service.

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Around 170 staff were affected, with some offered to be redeployed to other services and some offered the chance to retrain as drivers - at the time a higher graded role.

But plans to downgrade the status and pay of the bin truck drivers later emerged and triggered a new wave of fury among waste service staff. Some of those who had undergone retraining claimed they had been duped.

The situation escalated again until in July the council said it had "reached the absolute limit" of what it could offer and walked away from talks.

Formal redundancy consultations with workers who had rejected alternative proposals are now under tion had been contravened in ways that prevented bin trucks getting out safely to collect rubbish.

Unite said that if the union is fined, the money would be paid out of its Labour affiliation fund.