Postal workers in the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are taking selective action in a dispute with Royal Mail over the company’s “modernisation” plans.
The company says it has to respond to reduced demand for letter post. The union says Royal Mail are introducing the plans without consulting the workforce, reneging on a modernisation agreement made previously between the union and the company. The company wants to forge ahead with job cuts and reducing services.
The union had offered the company and government a three-month no-strike deal in return for serious talks on how modernisation might be done with more union involvement. The latest strikes took place on Saturday 25 July and are due to continue throughout the week at different offices around the country.
The Sorting Office at Bow, East London was picketed on Tuesday 28 July as part of the rolling strike in London. The strike for the section was solid and the picket line was visited by deliverers and cleaners on their way into or out of work. Morale seemed very high, although some said they would rather have a national, all-out strike and be done with it. Discussions had on the picket line were wide-ranging, from bullying management and the effect of privatisation on the service to the legacy of the miners’ strike in 1984-5.
