CWU WILL DO “EVERYTHING POSSIBLE” TO PROTECT MEMBERS AFTER UNPROVOKED ASSAULT ON POSTAL WORKER IN BANGOR

Postal December 11 2020

The CWU in Northern Ireland have warned they will not tolerate their members being physically assaulted on the job, after a postal worker has been attacked in Bangor, County Down.

The has gone out after Andrew Holmes, a worker based out of Bangor Delivery Office, was attacked on Thursday afternoon.

As Andrew, 56, was working his shift, he was assaulted on Stanley Road at around 2.30pm by a man who had been allegedly assaulting a woman on the same street.

Andrew, who has 30 years of service with Royal Mail, was then helped by a member of the public, who waited with him until the police arrived.

He suffered a black eye, cuts and bruises to his head and face as a result of the attack, and CWU News understands that the assailant has been arrested by the PSNI.

At the time of writing, the CWU are fully co-operating with Royal Mail management to get justice for Andrew.

CWU Northern Ireland Regional Chair Davy Moffett said: “On behalf of the entire Communication Workers Union, I send our best wishes to our colleague, and I hope he makes a full recovery as soon as possible.

“Even in normal circumstances, this attack is completely unacceptable.

“But it is even more disgraceful in a global crisis, where postal and delivery workers are risking their lives every day to keep us all connected.

“The pressures they’re facing are unprecedented, and they’re doing their best under exceptional circumstances.

“It isn’t right at all that workers should feel worried about intimidation or assault walking into any area, and as a union we completely reject that.

“Make no mistake about it, the CWU will do everything possible to protect our workers, including taking workers off the street, if it is the necessary thing to do in order to protect them.”

“The last thing we want to do is disrupt services and bring more misery, but people’s safety will always be our first priority.”