Scots consider branch-wide postal strike
Postal January 18 2016Thousands of Scottish CWU members are being consulted on industrial action to enforce a Court Reinstatement Order, as Royal Mail management continue to flout justice.
This morning saw postal delivery workers in Fife walk out for the second time in solidarity with their colleague, David Mitchell, who was unlawfully sacked by the business over a year ago on allegations which the Procurator Fiscal and Industrial Tribunal have declared as having lacked evidence.
So far, the action has been limited to the 49-strong workforce at David’s own delivery office in the small town of Cupar – east of Perth and south of Dundee – but CWU Scotland 2 Branch Secretary Kenny Logan says that he has now met with his branch and divisional union officers and that a “branch-wide consultation is now getting under way.”
CWU Scotland 2 Branch does not cover the whole country, but it does number around 3,000 members and includes Dunfermline, Kirkaldy, and the nation’s capital city of Edinburgh, he explained.
“The consultation will cover all Royal Mail members within the branch area,” he continued, pointing out that this means network, processing and distribution operations as well as delivery will be affected.
“Today’s action at Cupar was 100 per cent rock-solid,” added Kenny, “and the feelings among our members here and elsewhere is extremely strong – everyone believes the company must reinstate David.
A meeting of all CWU reps within Scotland 2 Branch is scheduled for January 29th to consider the feedback from the consultation and, if the company has not complied with the Reinstatement Order by then, the process of a full-scale branch strike ballot could begin early next month.
Speaking this afternoon, David Mitchell thanked his workmates for their solidarity, saying: “I’m overwhelmed and over the moon with the support.”