Sacked posties get jobs back

[Night Tonic]

http://www.oxfordmail.net/news/headline ... s_back.php


Postal workers sacked during a bitter industrial dispute have won back their jobs at Oxford's main sorting centre.

Communications Workers Union (CWU) official Steven Gill, and his colleague John Doran, appealed against their sackings last summer.

The dismissals led to a week's unofficial action at the Cowley sorting office, according to union officials.

Spokesman for Royal Mail Jaquie Stenson said: "I can confirm that both employees have been reinstated following our internal appeals processes.

"Royal Mail doesn't comment on the details of individual cases."

In June last year, 2,000 of the county's postal workers went on strike as part of a national dispute, after the CWU rejected a 2.5 per cent pay rise and a proposed restructuring of the service.

advertisementTensions grew locally, with a stand-off between the union and management, boiling over in July with the suspension of two workers at Cowley.

A wildcat strike ensued with workers out for six days, building up a backlog of more than five million items.

More strike days followed, and matters came to a head in September. There was a scuffle at the sorting office and Steven Gill, one of the men at the centre of a wildcat strike, was dismissed.

John Doran was sacked for alleged gross misconduct.

Oxfordshire CWU representative Bob Cullen said at the time that he believed the dismissals would be over- turned.

CWU official Noel Fay said: "It's disgraceful Oxford has seen union reps and activists sacked by managers because of false accusations.

"This was a case of union-busting by rogue managers intent on bashing the CWU in Oxford. The sackings were used to target union representatives and those taking a strong pro-union position for the national dispute over pay and conditions."

He said an unofficial strike came about after interference from an individual police officer, whom he claimed had a personal business stake in a Post Office franchise.

The policeman became the subject of a complaint to Thames Valley Police and to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "Thames Valley Police conducted a thorough investigation into the complaint and found the claim to be unsubstantiated.

"Now the complainant has appealed and the complaint is being referred back to the IPCC."

The sorting centre is due to close by 2009, with the loss of 430 jobs.

[Night Tonic]

Mind you, you read all that and the very last line undoes the previous 20 or so.

[DGP1]

Mind you, you read all that and the very last line undoes the previous 20 or so.

Pyrrhic victory if I ever heard one

[opgpat]

The sorting centre is due to close by 2009, with the loss of 430 jobs.

What is a 'sorting centre' and this outfit is being moved to Swindon isn't it? How the hell do they think they can cut 430 jobs and still give the same level of service with quality? We are all doomed.

[alangate]

What is a 'sorting centre' and this outfit is being moved to Swindon isn't it? How the hell do they think they can cut 430 jobs and still give the same level of service with quality? We are all doomed.

I still believe if we all do the job proberly stop all the dashing around,using cars,carrying over weight bags,use the vans to get up to your walk,if indoors you all know what should be done,the damage was done years ago when we all thought the management didn,t know what was going on,they knew every trick in the book.

[Rowdy]

Great these guys got their jobs back but what of the managers involved? According to the police the claims made against them were unsubstantiated. So lies then. What disciplinary action was taken against these managers? If anyone knows post it here. Do the people who lost six days pay by taking industrial action in support of there colleagues have their wages reimbursed? I would imagine they have no chance even though it seems their actions were totally justified and would have helped enormously in having the sacked workers reinstated. Thanks to this forum we ordinary workers at Royal Mail are becoming more aware of widespread bullying and harassment by managers. And now I am being told that if you raise a grievance against a manager and it is not upheld then you are in danger yourself of facing dismissal because of emotional distress you may have caused to the manager. Seems like another of Royal Mail's tactics to intiminate its workforce. What will they come up with next?

[norbert]

Great these guys got their jobs back but what of the managers involved? According to the police the claims made against them were unsubstantiated. So lies then. What disciplinary action was taken against these managers? If anyone knows post it here. Do the people who lost six days pay by taking industrial action in support of there colleagues have their wages reimbursed? I would imagine they have no chance even though it seems their actions were totally justified and would have helped enormously in having the sacked workers reinstated. Thanks to this forum we ordinary workers at Royal Mail are becoming more aware of widespread bullying and harassment by managers. And now I am being told that if you raise a grievance against a manager and it is not upheld then you are in danger yourself of facing dismissal because of emotional distress you may have caused to the manager. Seems like another of Royal Mail's tactics to intiminate its workforce. What will they come up with next?

"Strategic " dismissals & a union bashing agenda to soften people up . All the orders came from RM HR /Snr Mgt -to be carried out by Area . ASDA worked a similar way called Scrapeaway , there's other scalps , Karen Weissemann- Unison & NHS Trusts , Burslem 12 & Bristol RM , all to create a culture of fear no matter how much adverse publicity .