Unite fined £265,000 for breaching injunction at council bin depots

The High Court has fined the Unite union £265,000 after it admitted breaching an injunction banning protesters from blockading Birmingham City Council's waste depots during the bin strike.

The fine, handed down on 17 March, is the largest issued by the courts in this type of case, according to the council. Unite was also ordered to pay £170,000 towards the council's legal costs, with a further £90,000 to be assessed by the court.

How the case came about

The council was granted an injunction in May 2025 setting out what protesters could and could not do on the picket lines at its depots, during the all-out strike by bin workers. In October it began contempt proceedings against Unite, accusing members of repeatedly breaching the order by obstructing bin lorries.

Unite admitted the breaches, and the hearing focused on the level of penalty. The court heard evidence from council staff about what they had experienced at the depots and the disruption to the waste service.

What the judge said

Mrs Justice Jefford said photographs and videos shown to the court showed interference with lorries in the streets around the depots.

"They do show graphically the disruption being caused and, putting it mildly, the difficult and unpleasant situation in which those trying to collect rubbish found themselves," she said.

The judge rejected Unite's argument that it had misunderstood the terms of the injunction, calling it a "clever argument about the scope of the injunction" rather than a genuine belief. She found the breaches "to have been deliberate and culpability to be high", adding that they "were repeated and repeated after they had been drawn to the defendant's attention".

Council response

"Going to court was not something we wanted to do but it was the right thing to do to protect the people of Birmingham," said Councillor Majid Mahmood, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport.

He said the council had always acknowledged the right to protest and Unite's right to organise lawful picketing, "however, people also have a right to work". He said the injunction, which remains in force, had helped the council maintain a weekly collection for Birmingham families.

Because these were contempt proceedings, the fine is paid to the Government, while the legal costs go to the council.

The wider dispute

The strike, which began in 2025 over job changes in the waste service, has been one of the longest-running industrial disputes in local government, and at its height left rubbish piling up in streets across the city. The judgment is published in full on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website.