Post talks resume as union threatens legal action

Tue Nov 3 2009 09:03:36

Talks to try to break the deadlocked postal dispute are expected to resume as the Royal Mail faces legal action over the recruitment of 30,000 agency staff during the strike.

The Communication Workers Union served notice of action in the High Court on Friday after considering the move for the past few weeks.

Postal bosses have denied the 30,000 workers are being used to break the series of strikes, insisting they are dealing with the backlog of mail as well as preparing for the Christmas rush.

The GMB union wrote to Business Secretary Lord Mandelson calling on him to investigate the role of employment agencies which have supplied temporary staff to the Royal Mail.

The union believes the law has been broken in recent weeks because it is illegal to take on staff to do the work of people involved in a lawful industrial dispute.

The GMB demanded an investigation into alleged breaches of the law in Slough, Bristol and Dartford, warning it did not rule out taking enforcement proceedings against the Business Department and Government if they failed to act.

The Royal Mail said the backlog of post caused by three days of strike action last week had halved to 25 million yesterday, but further walkouts are planned for Friday and next Monday unless the deadlock is broken.

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