TALKS to resolve a pay dispute by refuse collectors will take place with arbitration service ACAS on Tuesday
News of the talks was revealed at Monday's night full council meeting.
Councillors also heard the Labour opposition say it would look at the possibility of bringing the refuse and street cleaning contracts back in-house if the party won next year's council elections.
Unite, the union representing refuse collectors employed by council contractors Veolia Environmental Services, called off a three-day strike planned for this week after both sides agreed to arbitration.
Veolia has offered a 2 per cent rise but the staff are looking for at least 3.1 per cent, in line with inflation.
Onay Kasab, Unite regional officer, said: "We are entering the talks on Tuesday in the genuine hope that Veolia share our desire to resolve the dispute, rather than this being a delaying of the inevitable."
Veolia would not comment.
The idea of an in-house team succeeding Veolia was floated by Stuart Collins, the Shadow Cabinet member for streets, environment and highways.
It came during a debate in which Labour condemned Cabinet member for highways and environmental services Phil Thomas, for not intervening with Veolia to avoid the original strike threat.
Rejecting the claim, Councillor Thomas said the dispute was between Veolia and its workforce and not with the council.
After the meeting, Councillor Collins said there were concerns about the quality of service being providing by Veolia.
He said: "If there is a dedicated team who work directly for the council, we believe there will be more of a rapport with residents."
Cllr Collins emphasised there would not be a headlong rush into abandoning the Veolia contract.
He said Labour would not push ahead if pulling out proved to be too complicated or would cost council taxpayers too much in compensation.
But, he said, if the contract was maintained he would look to tighten it up.
Cllr Collins said: "When the Tories renegotiated the contract there were no penalty clauses for poor performance."
Labour would want to see those introduced after talks with Veolia.
