The Amalgamated Workers Union says it has reached a satisfactory resolution with Christchurch Waste Management about hours of work.
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Since Monday, the city's 50 rubbish truck drivers have been finishing work at 2pm, regardless of whether all the bins have been emptied.
The drivers want to be paid time-and-a-half for hours worked on top of an eight-hour shift.
The union met with waste management company representatives yesterday.
A union spokesman, Lindsay Chappell, said they had reached a satisfactory resolution, which would be presented to the workers on Monday.
"The biggest concern was wage rates, and also hours required to work with summer coming on - obviously, the organics is quite huge, the daily expectation," he said.
"There will be a mechanism put in place to prevent that for future."
He said the drivers were already doing 10-12 hour shifts.
Christchurch City Council acting unit manager of water and waste Tony Joyce told Radio New Zealand News on Thursday that many residents had contacted the council, wanting to know why their bins were still full.
He said the council was investigating back-up plans in case the pay dispute between the rubbish collectors and their employer escalated.