Talks resume tomorrow to try to end the Leeds bin strike, now in its tenth week.
* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from your YEP.In recent days both sides in the dispute have indicated some increased optimism that a deal could be achieved.
Representatives of the GMB and Unison trade unions and council bosses
will continue the talks opened last week following a meeting between the unions and joint council leaders Coun Richard Brett and Coun Andrew Carter.
The strike was sparked by a new pay and grading structure drawn up by the council, in consultation with trade unions, to meet a new equal pay agreement that people doing work rated as of equal value are paid the same.
The jobs of about 23,000 workers were evaluated and while the majority received a pay rise or saw their wages remain the same, refuse collection staff were the big losers, facing an annual pay cut of up to £4,500 from February 2011.
Council bosses last month offered a deal they said would allow them to ensure the projected wage loss was reduced to about £200, providing a number of productivity targets were met.
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