Industrial action which has affected bin collections in Armagh since mid-July is set to end at midnight.
ABC Council were, this afternoon (Thursday), informed by Unite that staff will return to work on Friday morning.
It comes following the conclusion of an internal appeals process on Wednesday.
Council’s senior management team met with Unite representatives this afternoon and agreed to try and get services back to normal, as soon as possible.
A Council spokesperson said: “A meeting took place today where there were differing views expressed as to industrial relations between Council management and Unite the Union.
“Both parties agreed that a review would take place to address the issues raised between management and Unite. In order for this to be facilitated, Unite agreed to suspend industrial action from 00.01 Friday, September 6.”
SDLP Councillor Thomas O’Hanlon commented: “I appreciate this has been a very difficult period for all householders. Over 100,000 bins were missed during this period and there is now a significant piece of work to do to get the service back up and running again, which will take a bit of time.”
He added: “There is a HR process at the centre of this dispute, and councillors cannot get actively involved in the detail – to protect both the Council and the employee’s individual rights.
“I cannot comment on what I genuinely have not been involved in, only to say I hope there are lessons learned on all sides. I don’t want to see any disruption to services like what we have experienced again.
“I have stressed the importance to all concerned that we need to look to the future, relationships within council need mended, as does trust between the ratepayer and the Council.
“On a normal day twenty-one Bin Lorries leave the depot in Armagh to cover a range of black, brown and green bin routes. During this action there was only eight lorries.
“In the evening some of those eight crews returned to help out, as did other crews from Craigavon.
“Likewise Recycling Centres in Keady, Armagh, Markethill and Tandragee were flat out and really helped ease the pressure for householders. I want to genuinely thank each of those involved and for their help during what was a difficult time.”
