After CWU loses court appeal over Royal Mail strikes

Postal workers were waiting to find out the next steps in the battle to defend their jobs and working conditions, as Socialist Worker went to press on Tuesday.

The workers’ CWU union lost an appeal last week against an injunction bosses used to block strikes in Royal Mail.

Union members voted by 97 percent on a 76 percent turnout to strike in defence of their jobs and conditions.

But the Court of Appeal upheld a ruling that the CWU’s strike ballot was unlawful because workers were filmed and photographed voting and posting their ballot papers.

In the wake of the ruling the CWU said it would launch a “leverage campaign” which it described as “a new flank in this dispute”.

This involved writing to Royal Mail’s shareholders criticising top management, and will also mean “a major public and political campaign”.

In a letter to shareholders, the union also said workers could ballot a second time “if the company decides to press on regardless or we fail to reach an acceptable agreement”.

The CWU’s postal executive committee was set to meet on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. The union should hold a new ballot immediately.

And workers in Parcelforce—whose ballot was unaffected by the ruling—should be called out on strike as soon as possible.