The row over bin charges that began in the Fingal area of north and west Dublin last week has spread to the Dublin city suburbs of Rathmines, Ranelagh, Harolds Cross and Ballsbridge.
A group of 30 anti-bin-charge campaigners gathered outside the Rathmines waste depot at 7 a.m. yesterday, delaying the start of collections by up to an hour.
From yesterday Dublin City Council will not collect rubbish from householders who have not paid their charges in the Dublin 4, Dublin 6 and Dublin 6W areas.
This follows Fingal County Council's decision last week not to collect bins from any householder in its area who has not paid up.
The campaigners said they were not obstructing the seven refuse trucks from leaving the Rathmines depot, but were there to lobby council workers to support the campaign.
"The workers are very unhappy about this situation, caused by the council," one campaigner, Mr Dermot Connolly, said. "They are very unhappy that council officials have told them they will be sacked if they collect bins where the charge has not been paid, while their union supports a commitment to collect all bins."
However, SIPTU and IMPACT, the unions to which the refuse collectors belong, are bound by the 1990 Industrial Relations Act, which gives the right to determine whose bins are collected to the city manager.
"The Act makes what the council is doing a legitimate order, and we cannot have an industrial dispute over a legitimate order," Mr Paul Smith of SIPTU said.
SIPTU does not support service charges, he said, and would support any members who felt their health and safety were put at risk by the protests.
"If on foot of that a member felt he could not work to the management instructions, we would have no difficulty if it comes to an industrial dispute."
IMPACT has issued a statement advising all members to follow management instructions over the non-collection of bins. While the union had "fundamental reservations" about bin charges, it said, its main responsibility was to protect the jobs and conditions of its members and prevent privatisation of the service.
A spokesman for Dublin City Council said the protest at the Rathmines depot had been well ordered.
"The bin cars were an hour late going out, but apart from that there was just discussion and debate between the protesters and the drivers."
The council's refuse collection had not been disrupted yesterday, and the non-collection policy would be confined to the Dublin 4, 6 and 6W areas this week, he said.
Meanwhile, protests continued in Fingal where a refuse truck was detained at the Royal Oak estate in Santry for a fifth day. A group of fewer than 10 protesters have continued to guard the truck day and night, despite a temporary High Court injunction ordering campaigners not to obstruct waste collection.
The area around the truck has become littered with refuse sacks, which a spokeswoman for the council said could pose a health hazard as they were likely to attract rats.
Two other trucks were held in Kinsealy and Blanchardstown yesterday, but were later released.
Fingal County Council will be back in the High Court tomorrow seeking an interlocutory injunction against the campaign. The protesters, led by the Socialist TD Mr Joe Higgins, said they intended to fight the case.
