Royal Mail strikes cancelled after ‘legal threat’

News

CWU union leaders should meet bosses’ threats with escalation

CWU union leaders have called off six planned days of Royal Mail strikes over the next two weeks after bosses threatened a legal challenge.

The six days had been meant to kick off a long programme of functional action—strikes by different groups of workers—through November. But, in a move that workers and their union leaders should meet with escalation, bosses picked legal holes in the complexity of the action.

Two days of strikes by all workers in Royal Mail are still set to go ahead on Saturday 12 and Monday 14 November. But union leaders have called no more days after these—and are pinning their hopes on talks with bosses who are out to humiliate them.

Announcing the decision to call off strikes, CWU general secretary Dave Ward said the union had received a letter from Royal Mail lawyers on Friday. He said the letter challenged details of the legal notices of the strikes that the union had served bosses.

Ward also said the union’s postal executive committee had called the strikes on 12 and 14 November in anticipation of having to cancel the other days. But he added that after calling strikes off, union leaders would focus on negotiations with bosses at conciliation service Acas.

“On occasions there has to be a moment where you focus on trying to negotiate,” he said. “And it has been hard to focus on the negotiations when you’re also out on strike. Sometimes that isn’t always helpful.”

Yet Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson has shown he isn’t interested in any agreement that serves workers. He is on a mission to break up Royal Mail and turn it into a parcels company similar to Amazon or DPD—with “gig economy” style conditions to match.

Thompson has also threatened to scrap 10,000 jobs—including with 6,000 sackings—if he doesn’t get his way. And whenever Ward reports on positive-sounding talks with Thompson’s underlings, Thompson pops up to say it’s rubbish.

Now there are reports of Royal Mail managers docking pay and refusing overtime in a bid to turn the screw on workers. It comes after the managers’ Unite union agreed to accept a well-below inflation pay offer of 5.5 percent—tied to attacks on working conditions.

Acting deputy general secretary postal Andy Furey said Thompson had “unleashed management to try and do their worst.” “We believe they’re trying to provoke unofficial walkouts,” he said. But, he added, “Stay strong, stay disciplined, don’t be pulled onto a punch. Don’t allow this provocation to wind you up.”

Yet workers are right to be furious—and to want to hit back at Thompson and his managers. The CWU’s head of communications Chris Webb said that many workers online had responded to the news with anger at bosses—and at union leaders.

Furey said the plan of rolling functional action has been meant to “ensure minimum loss of pay to our members and maximum disruption to the employer.” But he added that union leaders knew that calling functional action “was going to be a risk because of the complication of Royal Mail.”

“We’ve got something like 115,000 members doing 1,500 plus workplaces,” he said. “The different groups, the different functions, the different business units make it extremely difficult to get this 100 percent right.

“In all probability you’re never going to get it 100 percent right because one small technical error can throw the action into jeopardy.”

The union had planned more days of functional action from 15 November, but has not formally notified bosses. Now union leaders say they’ll meet to discuss the future of the action. But Ward said they didn’t plan any more updates for another week while they negotiate.

Workers have the busy run-up to Christmas—including online shopping days Black Friday and Cyber Monday—to hit Thompson hard.

The best way to do that—and to show him the union won’t be cowed by threats and blackmail—is to call longer strikes, with everyone out together, immediately. And be prepared to defy the law.