Bin workers 'deliberately' breached order - lawyer

An all-out strike over plans to downgrade some roles began on 11 March

Striking bin workers in Birmingham "repeatedly and deliberately" breached an injunction relating to their industrial action, the High Court has been told.

Birmingham City Council has taken members of the union Unite to court, after it "lost patience" over breaches of a court order which prohibited the blocking of refuse trucks at depots and on streets.

Unite, which has been on all-out strike since 11 March and had agreed to the order, made in May, has admitted the breaches and apologised "unreservedly".

Council lawyers said the appropriate penalty was financial, but Unite argued this was not a case where "severe sanction" was needed.

The court heard breaches included blockading vehicles at depot entrances and slow-walking next to vehicles.

The injunction had ordered Unite to ensure members or officials refrained from picketing other than at three depot entrances, and from protesting outside designated assembly areas.

'Cat and mouse'

Bruce Carr KC, for the council, said until 25 July, when it received legal advice, Unite believed the terms entitled them to block vehicles some distance from depots.

He said the order was made to ensure the council could deploy trucks, so residents did not have quantities of waste near where they lived.

Unite showed "complete disregard" for the order, he said, and that after several breaches, the council eventually "lost patience" and brought the matter to court.

He told the court there had been "a pattern of disobedience" and a "cat and mouse game", with the defendants "repeatedly and deliberately pushing the boundaries".

Mr Carr said it was an "insult" to residents and the court for Unite to say it genuinely believed members were entitled to block vehicles down the road from depots.

In written submissions, Oliver Segal KC, for Unite, said: "The defendant accepts that it is guilty of contempt by reason of breach of a court order. The only issue for the court is sanction."

He said Unite believed the order "imposed no obligations on it to restrain activities in relation to protesting, including the blocking of vehicles, away from the immediate vicinity of the depots".

Mr Segal said Unite accepted "its belief in that regard was in error".

He added: "The court is asked to accept as genuine the strength of feeling on the part of the defendant and its members in relation to a lawful industrial dispute as an explanation, albeit not an excuse, for the defendant's unlawful conduct."

The case continues.