‘Our not guilty verdict is victory for right to protest’, says arrested trade unionist

The GMB Three stand on the steps of the Brighton Law Courts (Picture: @GMBSouthern/Twitter)

Three trade unionists—who were arrested on a bin workers’ picket line—were found not guilty on Friday after three court appearances and ten months. Police handcuffed and arrested the GMB union official last May when they were blocking vans from leaving the Amberstone depot in Wealden, East Sussex. 

Gary Palmer, one of the arrested GMB officials, told Socialist Worker the case against them collapsed within minutes in court. “It took ten or 11 minutes for the judge to throw the case against us out,” he said. “We’d been charged with obstruction of a highway, but when they looked at a map of where we were standing. It was found we were standing on private property. 

“The Crown Prosecution Service hadn’t looked at their files properly. The judge was shown videos we provided of our arrest that proved this. He said if he’d seen the videos, we probably wouldn’t have been prosecuted at all. 

“The amount of manpower, time and money that went into this case was a complete joke, especially when it fell apart so easily.” 

Gary said the arrests and subsequent court case were absolutely “politically motivated”. “I am convinced it was contrived between the council and the police,” he said. “At the end of the day they showed they would stand on the side of the bosses, not the workers.”  

As the GMB Three were found not guilty, the union announced that workers in Wealden are planning to vote for strikes. Gary explained, “The managers have introduced a file note, which is a disciplinary notice brought against staff that can’t be contested. Off the back of this, workers have decided to vote to strike unless things change. If workers vote yes, they could be on strike by early May.”  

Gary added that refuse strikes could spread again. “We are getting calls from other depots like Dover and Folkestone,” he said. “If anything, our arrest sent a message across the industry. It said we can fight. Our ‘not guilty’ verdict is a victory for the right to assemble. 

“As union officials, we’ve asked workers what they think they deserve. In one depot workers want a 30 percent pay rise, the bosses fell off their chairs when they heard. But that’s what they are prepared to fight for. We have to raise the bar. It’s good to see workers in Amazon, for example, talking to workers who are trying to cross picket lines. 

“Engagement with workers on picket lines is so important. It’s where we can build our unions. We had a hot summer of strikes last year. Let’s make this one a smelly strike summer.

“I’ve already decided where I’ll be standing for the strikes in Wealden. I’ll be in exactly the same spot where I got arrested. I’m not going to move.”