(23 Nov 2023, 6:04 pm)RobinHood wrote Conversely, it is an offence to cause an obstruction of the public highway and specifically in relation to industrial action, it is a criminal offence to block people or vehicles trying to get into a workplace that is on strike.
I know, I know, they are still 'moving' but it is still an obstruction as it prevents progress at a reasonable pace.
These buses are coming back to the depot (not heading out), so I'm struggling to understand the rationale for slowing them up, given GNE aren't impacted by it, neither are the public, as it's already done it's revenue running. Bizarre.
I don't believe that to be correct. My understanding is that it's an offence to cause an obstruction, but walking on a public highway is not an obstruction. Even when footpaths exist, its only an advisory in the highway code that they should be, not must be, used.
There's no requirement in the Highways Act for progress at a reasonable pace, only free passage. It was recently introduced in the Public Order Act 2023 to prevent walking protest disruptions to road infrastructure, but that only applies to Motorway, A and B roads (or special roads, per section 16 of the Highways Act)
In regards to the Trade Union act and other anti-strike legislation, I think the key here is probably whether they're being prevented. In the videos above, no one is being prevented, they're merely having to wait for 'traffic' to clear first. I suspect if the strike breaker got out of the bus, they'd be able to freely walk in to the depot.
In addition, whilst obstructing someone from entering the public highway is a criminal matter, I understand that if someone was obstructed from leaving the public highway, that would instead be a civil matter.
People might find it annoying, but when there's so much anti-strike legislation in place, you've got to work within the confines of what you've got.
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