Union threatens Royal Mail with legal action

Tuesday 3rd November 2009

Royal Mail could face legal action over the recruitment of 30,000 agency workers during nationwide strikes.

The Communication Worker's Union (CWU) has served notice it will be going to the high court on Friday to seek an injunction which would prevent the postal service from recruiting the extra staff.

The CWU claims the extra workers are 'strike breakers', while Royal Mail argue they are required to deal with the huge backlog of post in the run-up to the busy Christmas season. Royal Mail said it is entirely within employment law to hire the extra staff.

And Guy Lamb, employment partner at DLA Piper, has also said the Royal Mail is not breaking the law by employing the temporary staff.

Mr Lamb said: "Despite the rhetoric of the Communication Workers Union, Royal Mail is not directly breaking any law by bringing in temporary workers during strike action. The laws to prevent the use of temporary workers to cover striking staff actually only apply to the employment agencies who provide the workers.

"These agencies are regulated by the Department of Business giving any decision to take action against them the responsibility of Lord Mandelson, Minister for Business, who has already stated that he doesn't believe any regulations have been broken."

Talks are expected to resume today between the postal service and union, in the hope of preventing planned strike action.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "The up to 30,000 directly engaged, fully-vetted temporary workers being hired by Royal Mail to help us clear any mail delayed by strikes and help with Christmas volumes are entirely in line with all employment law.

"In addition we normally use agency staff throughout the year to help cover sick and holiday absence, fluctuations in volumes and higher volumes at Christmas."

CWU members will be striking again on Friday and Monday, unless the talks to prevent action are successful. Unlike the previous five 24-hour strikes, which have involved members in different roles striking on different days, the two new dates will be all-out action including up to 121,000 union members on each day.

Workers have been striking over pay and modernisation, as well as 63,000 job cuts in recent years.

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