The union representing striking bin workers in Birmingham has been fined £265,000 for breaching an injunction which prohibited the blocking of waste lorries at depots.

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.

Jefford said striking workers had obstructed waste vehicles and picketed outside defined areas despite the injunction being in place.

Unite admitted it had breached the court’s order and “apologised unreservedly” for doing so. It also said it believed the injunction only applied to protests in the immediate vicinity of the depots.

The judge said she accepted the apology as “a genuine one” but acknowledged it was not offered until September 2025.

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,” it read.

The union was ordered to pay a £265,000 fine, and a £170,000 interim sum to cover the council’s legal costs within 14 days.

The Labour-run council said it was pleased with the outcome.

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”, he added.

“We always acknowledged that everyone has the right to protest … What is not acceptable is for pickets to obstruct vehicles and prevent people from doing so,” he said.

Unite said this was “yet another pathetic attempt to intimidate workers”.

The secretary general, Sharon Graham, said the union “will not allow these workers to pay the price for the council’s failings” and accused the council of having “walked out of the room” when a deal was available.

Unite members began their strike in January last year over proposed pay cuts and role changes.

Last week, on the first anniversary of the all-out strike, Unite said it would cut its affiliation with the Labour party by £580,000 over the dispute.

Graham said the fine would be paid for by the cut to Labour’s affiliation fee.

“Labour will be paying for this one, and others that come our way,” she said.