Injunction bans bin lorry blocking amid strike

A legal injunction brought over claims Birmingham refuse lorries were being blocked from leaving depots has been granted, as the strike by bin workers goes on.

The injunction prohibits protests by people backing union Unite's industrial action that obstruct the entering or exiting of "any other individual or vehicle to and from" four city depots, without Birmingham City Council's consent.

The authority confirmed the three-month injunction came into effect last Friday, after a High Court judgement handed down on 13 February.

Unite told the BBC it would not be commenting on the injunction, a breach of which would be deemed contempt of court and could lead to a jail term of up to two years.

Anyone who breaches the order could also be fined, and/or have their assets seized, the council said.

The four places named are Atlas Depot on Kings Road, Tyseley, Lifford Lane Depot on Ebury Road, Kings Norton, Perry Barr Depot in Holford Drive and Smithfield Depot on Sherlock Street.

Up to 350 Unite members began one-day strikes over pay and the removal of a couple of roles on 6 January last year, with an all-out strike launched on 11 March.

The council said the injunction also prohibits obstruction of any council street management vehicle in the city.

It stated the injunction did not seek to limit lawful protesting or lawful picketing and protest activity, in accordance with an existing injunction dated 27 May last year.

This was extended on 29 May and began also applying to the Smithfield Depot on 25 June.

The council has employed agency workers to collect household waste, but at times during the strike piles of rubbish have grown on pavements and recycling has not been collected anywhere in the city since the all-out strike began.

Agency worker collections have been disrupted on several occasions over allegations striking workers had blocked lorries from leaving depots.

The council has reconfirmed that it would go ahead with a new waste collection regime in the summer, even if industrial action continued.

Leader John Cotton recently said putting a timeline on the end of the strike would be foolish as it could not settle on the basis of what Unite has been asking.

Unite has stated there would be no end to the strikes until there was a fair deal. It wants an end to proposed pay cuts for some, which it said would leave them £8,000 a year worse off. The council has denied this would be the case.

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