Postal Strikes Could Return Within Weeks
11 November 2009 - David Lynch
Despite an agreement between the Communication Workers Union and Royal Mail to suspend strike action ahead of Christmas, there are already concerns by postal workers that Royal Mail is continuing to push through changes to working practices and that strikes should not have been called off so early by union leaders.
Some CWU representatives are claiming that Royal Mail is already breaking the spirit of the agreement, leading to speculation that strikes could resume in the coming weeks unless further talks are arranged to restore what was hoped would be "a period of calm".
Mistrust between union and Royal Mail bosses has been blamed for a series of strikes, both localised and national which required mediation by the TUC earlier this month to break the deadlock. However, in some parts of the country, the interim agreement has been regarded by union members as a "sell out" and that ceasing strike action would allow Royal Mail to push through even greater changes after Christmas when postal workers would have a reduced opportunity to disrupt services.
The employment of so many casual workers at Royal Mail and lack of overtime has been seen as an agressive move by some workers. It has also been claimed that Royal Mail wants to end Sunday night operations for mail processing and distribution and carry out the work in daylight hours across the network. Union representatives say this would affect all Sunday attendances.
A split in opinion over the cessation of industrial action as well as worries over the future for the pension scheme, is also leading to calls by some angry workers for CWU leader Billy Hayes, to resign.
Royal Mail said earlier this month that it needed extra workers to help deliver the large volume of mail associated with Christmas and to clear remaining backlogged mail from previous strike action.
Concerns that the ballot for strike action could be called into play once more will alarm businesses that had been assured that no further strike action would occur before Christmas.
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