Hills Municipal Collections can confirm that employees who are members of UNITE have been balloted and have agreed to accept the company’s reviewed pay offer.

This means that two of the three unions in the Tri-Union recognition agreement have accepted the 7.1% pay rise offered and will not be taking part in the current strike action with GMB union members.

A spokesperson for Hills said: “We are really pleased that UNITE members were able to come to this decision as the offer we put forward provides a fair settlement in relation to inflation and indexation, which we know is impacting the cost of living. The offer is in line or ahead of comparable local pay awards and it provides positive certainty in a time of increasing volatility.”

Employees who have accepted the offer will receive a pay increase of at least 2% backdated to October 2021, with an additional 5% pay rise from 1 March 2022. The annual pay review date has also been brought forward from October 2022 to May 2022, with the next annual pay review due to take place in May 2023.

The offer was also accepted by UNISON membership last week, but has been rejected by the GMB union whose members are on strike for two weeks.