A DUBLIN port company at the centre of a lengthy strike has been granted a High Court injunction restraining two trade union groups and a number of individuals from distributing information or personal details of staff who are working through the dispute.
Mr Justice Kevin Feeney granted cargo handling company Marine Terminals Limited (MTL) a permanent injunction against Siptu, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (Ictu) and 10 other workers and trade union officials.
The defendants include Ictu assistant general secretary Peter Bunting, Siptu general secretary Joe O’Flynn, Siptu organisers Oliver McDonagh and Christy McQuillan, Ken Fleming of the International Transport Workers Federation and five current and former employees of MTL.
The company had previously secured an interim injunction against the defendants.
Siptu members at MTL have been on strike for about 10 weeks in a dispute over the alleged implementation of compulsory redundancies and changes to working pay and terms and conditions.
MTL said the defendants, as part of an “unlawful escalation” of the dispute, had tried to “coerce and intimidate” employees who were not on strike to cease working by calling them “scabs” and engaging in a “name and shame” campaign.
The defendants, while accepting that there had been “an escalated progression of the dispute” and that they had described other workers as “scabs”, denied that they had engaged in unlawful industrial action.
The court heard yesterday that, last month, a group of protesters travelled to Athy, Co Kildare, where some of the individuals who continue to work at MTL live, and erected posters and distributed fliers identifying those workers.
The judge said an examination of the evidence suggested the trade union had promoted the postering campaign.
He said making the decision was something of a “balancing exercise” as the defendants had the freedom to express their opinions but that this was eclipsed by the person who was identified in the posters’ right to privacy and right to work.
He granted an injunction restraining the 12 defendants from distributing information or personal details of staff who are working through the dispute.
Mr Justice Feeney also granted an injunction against three of the defendants – Michael Gleeson, Jonathan O’Connell and Nigel Williamson – who were restrained from watching or besetting or accosting anybody employed by Marine Terminals or from intimidating or harassing them.
The court heard that an MTL employee, who had continued to work through the strike, was approached and intimidated on a petrol station forecourt on August 27th. Mr Justice Feeney said the man was told by one of the defendants that they knew where he lived in a threatening manner.
He said that although the defendants said any comments made on the day were benign, he favoured the granting of an injunction against the three defendants.
Mr Justice Feeney said he would not grant an injunction restraining workers from using strong language including the terms “scab” and “crimes against Irish workers” during protests.
He said the terms, used at a protest march, must be viewed in context and that under their right to freedom of expression, workers were entitled to use such terms.
However, the judge said in view of alleged trespass that had occurred at the MTL premises during a protest on August 24th and the incidents in Athy and on the garage forecourt, unions should be aware of the consequences of escalating the strike.
In a statement issued following the judgment, MTL said it was extremely pleased at the decision which “shows that threats and intimidation have no place in today’s industrial relations”.
A Siptu response noted: “The company has said it will serve a statement of claim with a view to a full hearing . . . we will vigorously defend our members in any court action taken against them by the company.”
