Warrington Council lose legal bid to stop bin strikes

A council has lost its legal battle to get an injunction that would have stopped the continued bin strikes.

Warrington Council leaders had made the case to the Hight Court in London to grant an interim injunction to immediately stop the industrial action.

But High Court judges refused to grant the injunction in a ruling released on Friday, 1 December.

More than 70 bin collectors in the area have been on strike since 3 October, leading to rubbish piling up on the streets as they seek a new pay deal.

Members of the Unite Union rejected the national pay offer of a flat rate increase of £1,925.

Regional Officer for Unite, Brian Troake said: "After suffering a 20 to 25% real terms pay cut in their wages since 2010, obviously people have had enough now hence why they're on strike."

In a statement, Warrington Council said the judgment was not "an acceptable outcome for our residents" and called on Unite members to end the strike.

It continued: "This ruling may lead to significant future implications for all councils who continue to abide by the national pay agreements for local government.

"It was our belief that we had a strong case and good prospect of a positive outcome.

"While this judgement deems the current strike action by Unite to be lawful, we continue to be hugely disappointed by the impact that their course of action is causing for our town.

"We continue to call on Unite and their members to end the strike and to return to work.

"We know that this ruling is not an acceptable outcome for our residents, whose bins desperately need emptying.

"We continue to consider legal options including whether to appeal the court decision. 

"We also have a number of contingency plans we now intend to immediately take forward. We will offer a further update as soon as possible."

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