A THREATENED week-long garbage strike has been called off with the Transport Workers' Union instead agreeing to two days of crisis talks with contractor SITA.

The agreement was reached at a midday Monday meeting between the warring parties a day before garbos had planned to walk off the job over a pay dispute.

The four-hour stoppage threatened to stretch on for much longer with SITA warning it would lock out any workers who took industrial action.

But a joint statement by SITA and the TWU said a half-hour meeting on Tuesday and another one on Friday would hopefully see a "positive outcome".

"Today's meeting was positive and allowed both parties to develop further a way forward in producing an enterprise bargaining agreement acceptable to all parties," read the statement.

"All bin services will be performed as scheduled Tuesday and Friday."

Lord Mayor Cr Graham Quirk said he had a frank discussion with representatives of the Transport Workers Union this morning and was pleased strike action had been delayed to allow for further talks to take place.

"The parties need to keep talking," Cr Quirk said.Hopefully we will get a sensible outcome that both the union and SITA can live with in terms of these negotiations.

"In the meantime I just say that we will remain on guard and if a dispute does arise in terms of industrial action then we will be ready to make sure the people of Brisbane are inconvenienced to the least possible degree."

The garbos have been seeking an eight per cent pay rise in the first year and two five per cent increases in subsequent years but SITA is only willing to pay 12.5 per cent over three years unless productivity targets are achieved.

Earlier on Monday, The Courier-Mail reported that the Transport Workers' Union had attacked the Lord Mayor's own salary package ahead of a meeting designed to seek a resolution to the looming garbos' strike.

In a surprising move, the TWU has contrasted Graham Quirk's hourly earnings of $175.75 - with the $24.75 pocketed by garbage truck drivers who are seeking a pay rise of $1.24 an hour.

The rubbish of about 80,000 Brisbane residents could remain uncollected for a week if a planned garbage strike goes ahead.

The garbos are planning to walk off the job tomorrow for four hours but garbage contractor SITA has threatened to lock them out for a week if they do - halting Brisbane rubbish collections.

A meeting today with the Lord Mayor and a Fair Work Australia hearing this afternoon is the last hope of resolving the dispute but the TWU has gone on the attack questioning if Graham Quirk is worth "seven times what a garbo is paid?".

"Whose work is of more value to Brisbane residents ? Who provides a better return on investment?" questioned TWU secretary Peter Biagini.

He challenged the Lord Mayor to "ünequivocally reject bully boy industrial tactics from rogue contractors".

"Brisbane City Council has to draw a line in the sand and fight the worse-than-Work-CHoices mentality SITA has tried to foist on ratepayers and drivers," said Mr Biagini.

Cr Quirk yesterday announced he would allow residents to dump food scraps in skips placed in public parks to avoid Brisbane streets being turned into smelly, festering rubbish tips.

Ratepayers can also dispose of household waste for free at council transfer stations until the dispute is over.

The planned action comes almost a year after waste workers’ last strike in November 2010 after a co-worker was sacked.

The company SITA, who provides garbage collection around Brisbane, said it will lock out any employees who go on strikeon Tuesday for a week during which time no garbage bins would be collected.

“We’ve been in these discussions for over six months, these guys are the highest paid garbos in Queensland, we just cannot allow this to continue,” a spokesman for Sita told ABC radio.

“If they do take action tomorrow morning they’ll be locked out for seven days.”

Workers are currently being offered a 4.5 per cent pay rise, but Peter Biagini from the Transport Workers Union said that they had to work under extra pressure to get the raise.

“What the company’s saying is if you want a further pay increase, you need to finish 20 minutes earlier at the end of the day to help pay for that which means (workers) have to pick up more bins per hour which will jeopardise safety,” he said.

He also disputed the lock-out, saying that workers will only be taking four hours off tomorrow when they could’ve taken 24 or 48 hours.

“We’re being responsible, we’re taking legal industrial action.

“If they lock them out for seven days it will take them two weeks to catch up.”

Public bins put out for residents

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said more than 100 skips would be put in major parks around the city if crisis meetings between contractor SITA, council and the Transport Workers Union failed today and stop-work action went ahead tomorrow.

Cr Quirk will meet TWU representatives ahead of a Fair Work hearing at 4pm today.

Garbage collectors are seeking an 8 per cent pay rise this year followed by two 5 per cent increases but SITA has offered 12 per cent over three years without productivity gains.

TWU organiser Craig Williams said drivers were concerned SITA was trying to push through provisions that would further casualise the workforce and reduce rights.

Cr Quirk said he believed the deal was reasonable and said Brisbane garbage collectors were already the best paid in southeast Queensland.

"I am a great believer in a fair day's work for a fair day's pay and I believe that there is a reasonable deal on the table right now in relation to this matter," he said. "There's 4.5 per cent without any productivity gain . . . a further 4 per cent in the following two years."

Mr Williams said the union was also hopeful an agreement could be reached so strike action could be avoided.

He said drivers wanted to stop work for four hours but SITA has vowed to lock them out for seven days if they do.

"There is still room for us to move as long as they are willing to come to the party," Mr Williams said.

Suburbs that would be affected on Tuesday if a planned stop work meeting goes ahead are: Albion, Annerley, Archerfield, Ashgrove, Aspley, Auchenflower, Balmoral, Bardon, Belmont, Brisbane City, City, Bulimba, Camp Hill, Cannon Hill, Carina, Carindale, Chelmer, Chermside West, Coorparoo, Corinda, Fairfield, Fortitude Valley, Graceville, Grange, Gumdale, Hawthorne, Herston, Indooroopilly, Kelvin Grove, Lutwyche, Milton, Moorooka, Morningside, Murarrie, Newmarket, Norman Park, Paddington, Petrie Terrace, Red Hill, Rocklea, Seven Hills, Sherwood, South Brisbane, Spring Hill, St Lucia, Taringa, Tennyson, The Gap, Tingalpa, Toowong, Wilston, Windsor, Wooloowin, Wynnum, Yeerongpilly and Yeronga.

- Robyn Ironside, Suzanne Dorfield and Sarah Vogler

Originally published as Crisis talks avert garbage strike, for now