"Justice Jefford found that Unite had repeatedly breached the injunction issued in July by blockading and slow walking next to vehicles. The judgment, issued in the high court on Tuesday, said such action had contributed to 22,000 tonnes of uncollected rubbish accumulating in Birmingham in March last year, which led the council to declare a major incident."
"The judgment also stated that breaches of the injunction by Unite were deliberate and culpabilty was high. There were repeated breaches and they repeated after they had been drawn to the defendant's attention."
"Majid Mahmood, the cabinet member for environment and transport, said: This judgment confirms that Unite has tried to prevent us from collecting our residents' bins and to fill the city up with rubbish. The fine would send a clear message about what is acceptable behaviour and what is not."
Unite union was fined £265,000 by the High Court for breaching an injunction issued in July that prohibited blocking waste lorries at depots. Justice Jefford found the union deliberately and repeatedly breached the order through blockading and slow-walking next to vehicles, contributing to 22,000 tonnes of uncollected rubbish in Birmingham in March, prompting the council to declare a major incident. Unite admitted the breaches and apologized, though claiming misunderstanding of the injunction's scope. The judge accepted the apology as genuine but noted it came late in September 2025. The union must also pay £170,000 interim costs to cover the council's legal expenses within 14 days. Birmingham's Labour council welcomed the judgment as confirming acceptable protest boundaries.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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