Coventry Bin Strikes to continue into the summer
HGV drivers have voted for further industrial action
A long-running strike by refuse collectors in Coventry will continue into the summer after HGV drivers voted for further industrial action.
Unite said 94% of its members in the city who took part in the ballot voted to renew the mandate for industrial action in a dispute over pay.
Strikes began earlier this year and all-out action will restart on March 28.
The strikes will run through the spring, including during the local elections in May, when 18 of Coventry's councillors will be elected.
Unite has accused council leaders of refusing to attend meetings with the union.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said:
"Rank incompetence and a catalogue of failures by Coventry council mean this strike will continue into the summer.
"The dispute could have been easily settled with capable council leaders. Instead, councillors have scandalously squandered millions and refused to attend a single meeting with Unite."
The City Council called for the strikes to be stopped last week, after the independent arbitrator ACAS ruled they were paying the bin lorry drivers correctly.
They've insisted throughout the industrial action that they're one of the highest paying authorities in the West Midlands for bin lorry drivers.