[olympiaworkers] Wildcat strike at Royal Mail delivery office gets the goods

Libcom.org Jun 10 2011

Staff at a London delivery office have taken illegal strike action and won
the reinstatement of a fellow worker.

Around 90 postal workers at the N1 sorting office took unofficial strike
action yesterday in support of a longstanding worker suspended for "wilful
delay of the mail".

After three hours of strike action managers caved in and reinstated the
worker. "It's a complete victory," said Mark Dolan, a senior CWU union rep
in north London.

The Royal Mail saw more strike action today as engineers working for Royal
Mail subsidiary Romec struck at mailcentres around the country. According
to union officials, non-union staff refused to cross the picket at
Warrington mailcentre.

The CWU-organised ballot saw 92% of members voting for strike action on a
turnout of 75%. Further strikes are scheduled for Cardiff, Dorset and
London on Monday,

The strike relates to imposed changes to shift patterns pushed through
without consultation, and which have seen pay docked from workers for
non-compliance.

Meanwhile, London postal workers have voted to strike in an official CWU
ballot in a dispute arising from the closure of mailcentres in Vauxhall
and Bow. Thus far, Royal Mail mangement have refused to rule out
compulsory redundancies as a result of the closures. They are expected to
result in over 500 job losses.

Postal workers voted four-to-one in favour of strike action. CWU
divisional officer Martin Walsh said, "London postal workers have sent a
clear message to Royal Mail in this ballot that they will not be bullied
or intimidated by the company.

"Royal Mail's closure plans are a clear threat of compulsory redundancy
and this is completely unacceptable. In their race to push services to the
bottom Royal Mail will eventually provoke a reaction wider than London."