Royal Mail workers to strike on Christmas Eve to support sacked colleague

Post by **TrueBlueTerrier** » 10 Dec 2019, 07:51

“Cancer has devastated my family over the last few years and I thought I was next"

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bris ... er-3620080" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Postal workers in Keynsham are to go on strike on the two days before Christmas - in support of a postman in the town who has just been sacked.

Paul Hollow was dismissed on the last day of November, and his dismissal has outraged his colleagues so much they are refusing to deliver Christmas mail on December 23 and 24.

The postmen and women at the Keynsham delivery office - which delivers to the BS31 postcode - voted for the strike just a couple of days later.

The Communications Workers Union has issued the Royal Mail with a strike notice, and if the strike goes ahead as planned, it could mean no mail is collected or delivered in BS31 from Saturday, December 21 to Friday, December 27.

However, bosses at Royal Mail say "correct procedures have been followed" and they still expect to offer a full service to customers over the strike days.

The striking postal workers are all members of the CWU and said the management of the Royal Mail in Bristol had badly let down Mr Hollow, a 38-year-old father of three.

A CWU spokesperson said Mr Hollow was sacked last week under the sickness process, which it believes was wrongly applied.

“His colleagues are believed to be outraged and voted to take strike action as the absences he was dismissed for were due to a series of personal tragedies,” he said.

“Paul lost a close family member to cancer, another was diagnosed with cancer and he himself faced a cancer scare in short succession.

“He suffered a period of depression which took him out of the workplace. Paul was back at work and hoping he had put the worst behind him, but instead of receiving support from his employer, he was called into a meeting and sacked.

“The dismissing manager claimed there were ‘no mitigating circumstances’,” he added.

Mr Hollow was, until November 30, the postman for the round in the St Clements and Park Road area of Keynsham but his wife and three children now face an uncertain future, he said.

“I am in shock. I saw this as my career for the next thirty years,” he said.

“I am the main breadwinner for my family. We live paycheck to paycheck and now I don’t know how we will get through Christmas. I’ve always worked really hard at my job and been really flexible, working wherever the company sent me.

“Cancer has devastated my family over the last few years and I thought I was next. I thought Royal Mail would be supportive but they have completely let me down when I needed them,” he added.

The local branch secretary for the CWU, Rob Wotherspoon, branded the case ‘one of the most callous’ he’d ever seen.

“We believe there are major errors of process, but more than that; managers have completely failed to apply basic standards of human decency,” he said.

“This decision is both heartless and brainless. Royal Mail touts its credentials around mental health but this case suggests that unfortunately this is just an exercise in public relations.

“Postmen and women in Keynsham have voted overwhelmingly to take strike action to defend Paul, they deserve the respect and support of anyone who values compassion in the workplace,” he added.

One of the striking postal workers at the Keynsham delivery office said everyone working there did not want to go on strike, but claimed they had been ‘pushed’ into it by Royal Mail.

“We are completely united in our disgust at the way our colleague has been treated,” said the postal worker, who did not want to be named.

“We want to see deeds, not merely words and lip service paid to the very real issue of mental health awareness. We didn't want to be pushed into strike action, but unfortunately we have by Royal Mails decision to unjustly sack our colleague,” he added.

Royal Mail statement
A Royal Mail spokesperson said the authority was 'disappointed that industrial action has been announced'.

They said: "While we do not comment on the details of individual cases, we can confirm that the correct procedures have been followed in this matter.

“A notification of industrial action does not necessarily mean there will be industrial action. In the event of any action, we have robust contingency measures in place and expect to offer a full service for customers over any impacted days."

hero22 · Post by **hero22** » 10 Dec 2019, 21:01

The whole country shud strike in support. Disgusting company run by disgusting people.

Post69 · Post by **Post69** » 11 Dec 2019, 09:39

hero22 wrote:The whole country shud strike in support. Disgusting company run by disgusting people.

Oh here we go! "The whole country shud strike in support" nonsense

This is a local issue and rightly so colleagues are showing solidarity to a fellow postman

we all know and witnessed management f#@k ups when it comes to disciplinary procedures and this guy on the face of it has had a pretty rubbish few years and I'm sure he'll be back to work pretty quickly if he has a good clued up union rep

Chelseablue · Post by **Chelseablue** » 11 Dec 2019, 17:07

Post 69. This is happening all over the country though. The amount of mental health problems stress etc brought on by this profit at any cost caring company is shocking . There are a good few ppl i know struggling badly in my office and are on some kind of medication to cope in our workplace. That is the truth .

Post69 · Post by **Post69** » 11 Dec 2019, 22:29

Chelseablue wrote:Post 69. This is happening all over the country though. The amount of mental health problems stress etc brought on by this profit at any cost caring company is shocking . There are a good few ppl i know struggling badly in my office and are on some kind of medication to cope in our workplace. That is the truth .

I don't dispute anything you say at all! but we need to get over the if we don't like it we just walk out nonsense

the law isn't on the side of the unionised workforce we've all just witnessed that

and by the sounds of this particular dispute everything has been done correctly according to the law that's what we need to be behind and supporting

ssdd · Post by **ssdd** » 11 Dec 2019, 22:41

Post69 wrote:
Chelseablue wrote:Post 69. This is happening all over the country though. The amount of mental health problems stress etc brought on by this profit at any cost caring company is shocking . There are a good few ppl i know struggling badly in my office and are on some kind of medication to cope in our workplace. That is the truth .
I don't dispute anything you say at all! but we need to get over the if we don't like it we just walk out nonsense the law isn't on the side of the unionised workforce we've all just witnessed that and by the sounds of this particular dispute everything has been done correctly according to the law that's what we need to be behind and supporting

It's not the law that isn't on the side of a unionised workforce. In our case it's RM. If you read the report that's been posted, it shows the CWU were in clear breach by intercepting the mail and not allowing members to vote in the privacy of their homes away from the workplace.

hero22 · Post by **hero22** » 11 Dec 2019, 22:59

Post69 wrote:
hero22 wrote:The whole country shud strike in support. Disgusting company run by disgusting people.
Oh here we go! "The whole country shud strike in support" nonsense This is a local issue and rightly so colleagues are showing solidarity to a fellow postman we all know and witnessed management f#@k ups when it comes to disciplinary procedures and this guy on the face of it has had a pretty rubbish few years and I'm sure he'll be back to work pretty quickly if he has a good clued up union rep

I do apologise for talking nonsense sir. Wont happen again boss.

k979aaa · Post by **k979aaa** » 13 Dec 2019, 00:05

Ok It's local for now but if any of these workers should face sanction it should be considered an attack upon us all and we should respond accordingly!

roadrunner bill · Post by **roadrunner bill** » 16 Dec 2019, 04:27

hero22 wrote:The whole country shud strike in support. Disgusting company run by disgusting people.

Yep... psychopaths...

UNION JACK · Post by **UNION JACK** » 19 Dec 2019, 21:39

k979aaa wrote:Ok It's local for now but if any of these workers should face sanction it should be considered an attack upon us all and we should respond accordingly!

Well said ,there is so much going on in every office up and down the country,to be honest people are getting fed up and the union have had long enough now to sort this out .Its time for them to step up and get a legal yes vote and put this to bed once and for all or i could see the end of a union as we know it,people are getting fed up of paying subs and letting this behaviour carry on and affecting peoples lives.It needs to stop and soon.