City truce likely

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 31: City of Hamilton bosses are hopeful of ending a strike threat by garbage collectors and manual staff.

City workers issued a 21-day strike notice after a trash collector was fired for slapping a teenage girl.

But yesterday, Edward Benevides, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary to the City of Hamilton, said: “The discussions with the Bermuda Industrial Union are progressing positively.”

The workers — responsible for trash collection, road cleaning and parks maintenance — walked off the job earlier this month for a meeting at the BIU.

They acted in support of garbage collector Michael Pond, 43, who was fired after being convicted of slapping a teenage girl who subjected him to verbal abuse and insulted his mother. He was at work at the time of the incident.

The union put out a 21-day notice of strike action — but union president Chris Furbert later signalled negotiators were keen to reach an agreement.

Mr Pond, who was fined $2,000, told Magistrates’ Court in July that he reacted “in the heat of the moment”.