Postal strike blocked over threat to general election

THE Royal Mail has won a High Court injunction preventing a mass postal strike planned for the run-up to Christmas after a judge raised fears that a mass walkout could interfere with the general election.

Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents two thirds of the Royal Mail workforce, overwhelmingly supported the strike by 97 per cent last month, following unrest over employment conditions and job security.

Royal Mail sought an injunction to block the result, claiming that the union attempted a “denial of democracy” by unlawfully coercing staff to strike before the election, when voters will cast their ballot through the post.

The judge agreed with the company’s lawyers and said members were “encouraged” to fill in their strike ballot papers at work and vote immediately for the “yes” option, rather than at home away from any pressure. Over the two-day hearing, the union argued there was no evidence of interference with the ballot.

However, Mr Justice Swift, who chaired the hearing, said that strike action risked the “delay or non-delivery”

‘Royal Mail said people from the Government had been in touch worrying about a general election’

of electoral material and postal votes.

Terry Pullinger, the deputy general secretary of the CWU, said: “I know there’s people saying the unions messed up. That’s nonsense.

“On the first day we came here, Royal Mail put a second submission in saying that people from the Government had been in touch with them worrying about the general election to deliberately put that into the judge’s mind.”