Post Office union's bid to outlaw 30,000 casual workers

[padraig1965]

Royal Mail could today be forced to send home 30,000 scab workers hired to clear the backlog created by the postal strikes.

Union chiefs will urge a High Court judge to rule that the temporary staff are illegally doing striking posties’ jobs. But the move would mean further postal chaos for millions of households – with 5 million letters already held up in depots.

Talks between the union and top aides of mail boss Adam Crozier ended without agreement yesterday, raising the spectre of further nationwide walkouts on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Mail managers have already begun hiring the first of the 30,000 short-term staff for the hectic Christmas season.

But this year’s recruitment drive is earlier and twice as large as normal as they will also have to wade through mountains of post delayed because of the strikes.

A senior CWU union source said: “We want an injunction to stop them recruiting any more temporary workers and to send home the ones they’ve already hired.

“We don’t need to prove the case to win an injunction, just to satisfy the judge there is a reasonable case to answer.”

Meanwhile, TUC chief Brendan Barber, who has brokered negotiations between the two sides, called yesterday’s seven-hour talks “useful”. Discussions will resume today.

Postal workers have been staging stoppages for a number of months in a row over modernising the service.

Gordon Brown has urged an end to the dispute and said: “This strike will be self-defeating if all it means is that fewer people use the Royal Mail.”

But in a sign of the bitterness between bosses and workers, Mr Crozier accused the CWU of talking “nonsense” and urged it to “shut up”.

Union leader Billy Hayes hit back by accusing Mr Crozier of being “in denial”.

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[ExSG]

For some reason from the past the Mirror cannot be relied upon to support us. Perhaps someone knows why that is - something to do with the '71 strike?

In the meantime I have reservations about going to court and paying lawyers loads of money. Whilst we may be in the right the public might think that we are being a bit picky. And before anyone asks do we care? We should, public support is vital which is why its such a good idea for posties to talk to them and tell them like it is.

[Destroyer]

What you have to remember is that weve done everything all above board, weve had a legal ballot & are taking legal action. The RM are only too fast to condemn us if we take the more effective Wildcat 'illegal' strikes that they refer to as 'unlawful'. Part of the law inclusive of a legal ballot/strike says that you return to work under normal practises - the employment of casuals all over is not normal working practises.