Xmas post temps ‘used for a strike-breaking army’

ROYAL Mail bosses have been accused of using the Christmas recruitment drive for temporary workers to create a “strike-breaking army”.

Members of the Communication Workers Union, which represents more than two-thirds of Royal Mail’s 140,000-strong workforce, voted in favour of industrial action two weeks ago.

The dispute is over job security, employment terms and an agreement made last year on pay, pensions and a pledge to reduce working hours.

Royal Mail says it will hold talks without preconditions if the CWU rules out a national strike before Christmas. But employment agencies are now advertising a range of jobs, including drivers and sorters. One, totaljobs.com, is displaying 17,692 positions nationwide.

The union is sending letters to the agencies warning it is unlawful for them to provide an employer with staff to cover striking workers.

If talks break down, the union has to give Royal Mail two weeks’ notice of strikes. The

CWU’s Dave Ward said: “Royal Mail are clearly recruiting a strike-breaking army in an attempt to crush this union.”

Strikes could hit the big shopping days of Black Friday on November 29 and Cyber Monday on December 2. Royal Mail workers last staged a national strike 10 years ago and a walkout was only avoided in 2017 after it won an injunction.

A Royal Mail spokesman said: “Royal Mail has been recruiting festive temporary workers since the Second World War.”