BIN workers go on strike today as part of a long-running dispute over pay.

Cityclean staff working for Brighton and Hove City Council will walk out from 12.01am until 11am over pay grades.

Union leaders have said more strike action may be on the way. Mark Turner, the GMB branch secretary, said members were “left again with no alternative other than to take further direct action”.

Union members want Cityclean’s 38 HGV lorry drivers put on a higher pay grade after six street cleaning staff were awarded the same money.

They claim the lorry drivers should get more as they have greater responsibilities.

The dispute became political after the city’s Conservatives condemned strike action.

In a tweet, Labour members in the Withdean ward said they supported Brighton and Hove’s bin lorry drivers.

Conservative group leader Geoffrey Theobald said the local Labour group should explain its position.

Councillor Warren Morgan, leader of the Labour and Co-operative Group, said: “We don’t support the strike, we support an early resolution to the dispute and we want better ways of resolving problems that cause regular disruptions to the services residents pay for.”

Industrial action was called off last November after the local authority and unions agreed to get together and discuss the possibility of changes to the HGV drivers’ pay.

New job descriptions were drawn up and a council job evaluation panel considered the move, but they decided the workers’ responsibilities did not merit an increase in pay.