Royal Mail has received a Excessive Court docket injunction to dam potential strikes by postal staff.
Judges granted Royal Mail an injunction because of issues with a union’s handling of a recent “yes” vote for strike action in a longstanding row over pensions, pay and hours.
But Royal Mail claimed in court that the ballot was unlawful and has said that CWU officials “planned and orchestrated” breaches of industrial-relations law during the balloting process.
He reassured CWU members that the union will be “doing everything” in its power to oppose both the decision and the company’s plans to casualise Royal Mail and will not only appeal the judgement but will launch a campaign against the company.
The CWU represents two thirds of the Royal Mail’s Royal Mail’s 140,000-strong workforce.
“Not one single person out of 110,000 who were balloted complained to Royal Mail that their right to vote was interfered with”, he said.
“We all need to wake up and recognise that this Tory government has deliberately stacked the rules against workers in favour of the constituency they were born to serve, which is big business and the establishment”.
Mr Justice Swift granted Royal Mail an injunction to prevent members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) from taking industrial action in a dispute over job security and employment terms. The trade union legislation is created to safeguard democratic integrity by ensuring union members can vote in the privacy of their own homes, rather than in any public process.
“Royal Mail’s application to the High Court did not apply to employees within Parcelforce Worldwide”.
Royal Mail said it was pleased with the outcome and was willing to enter talks with the union, provided it made a “binding commitment” that any strike action would not disrupt the snap General Election on December 12. “A binding commitment from the CWU to remove the threat of strike action during the period of any general election is vital”. “Its employees are the subject of separate ballot notices”, the company added. “We hope that our fine, which has been upheld in full by the Tribunal, will ensure that Royal Mail and other powerful companies take their legal duties very seriously”, said Ofcom’s spokesman.
The CWU despatched out a quick tweet instantly after the ruling, which stated: ‘Genuinely that is an utter outrage.
Analysts added that the threat of CWU strike action, even if actual strikes did not materialise, “may have impacted volumes and therefore revenues” on top of what they said were already significant declines in margins and operating profits in the group’s United Kingdom parcels and letters business since 2016.
