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4
November 2009
Recently CWU members voted
overwhelmingly in favour of strike action on a 67% turnout
most politicians would be proud to achieve! In response the
overpaid and unelected Royal Mail bosses brazenly declared
their recruitment of 30,000 temporary workers (twice as many
as last winter), many of whom will be used as strike breakers.
Although they regularly
recruit temporary workers to deal with the Christmas post,
Royal Mail are doubling the numbers this year and bringing
them in early to cut the impact of what they are calling "unjustified
and irresponsible" industrial action. Over the last week
the CWU has been seeking legal advice from John
Hendy QC on the possibility of obtaining an injunction
against Royal Mail hiring temporary workers as strike breakers
in order to undermine the strike. A decision from the high
court is expected on Friday.
So what is the UK law
in this area? According to a new report from the Institute
of Employment Rights "under Regulation 7 of the 2003
Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations,
it is an offence for an employment business to supply agency
workers to undermine legitimate industrial action" [1].
According to the Guardian
on Monday 'the CWU pointed out that the Department for Work
and Pensions is aware of the danger that agency staff might
be viewed as strike-breakers, and so has refused to allow
them to be recruited through the government's Job Centre Plus
Network'.
The law relies on the
Employment Agencies Standards Inspectorate (EASI) to enforce
Regulation 7 and so far no employer has been prosecuted or
stopped from undermining legitimate industrial action. GMB
Secretary Paul Kenny has called on Lord Mandelson to instruct
the EASI to investigate reports on the recruitment of agency
staff as strike-breakers in Dartford, Kent and Bristol and
to properly enforce the law for which he is responsible. In
a move of solidarity with the postal workers, Paul Kenny warned
Mandelson that "GMB reserves the right, if you or your
department fail to carry out your lawful responsibilities
or act in a prejudicial way, to seek enforcement proceedings
against your department and the government."
Workers cannot wait for
the overdue implementation of the EU Agency Workers Directive
before cracking down on employers breaking strikes by using
replacement labour.
Recognition law...
A week before Royal Mail's
recruitment of temporary workers, Newsnight's Richard Watson
revealed a leaked PowerPoint presentation prepared by Royal
Mail managers which "show[s] that this is no ordinary
strike. The clash is beginning to bear the hallmarks of epic
industrial struggles of the past".
The "Strategic Overview"
outlines management tactics to "deliver the necessary
2009 changes with or without union engagement". The presentation
considered strategy to defeat the union, including cutting
back consultation to the legal minimum. UK law only requires
statutory recognition to cover "pay hours and holidays".
Again, surely not compliant with international human rights
and freedoms…
[1] The Employment Act 2008: An IER Critique
and Guide by Georgina Hirsch, John Usher and Shubha Banerjee
is available from www.ier.org.uk
Read more:
Morning Star article - 'Post
union flexes muscles with double whammy'
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