The CWU says hiring temp workers is against the law.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is going to the High Court on Friday to seek an injunction against the Royal Mail over the hiring of 30,000 temporary workers to clear through the mail backlog.

According to the union, Royal Mail is using these workers as strike breakers and is in breach of employment law in doing so.

Should the CWU be successful, it could mean that members of the public may need to use the services of alternative parcel delivery providers such as Parcel2Go.com to get their mail to its destination in a reasonable time.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said that, despite the union's protestations, what the company is doing is perfectly within the law.

"The up to 30,000 directly-engaged, fully-vetted temporary workers being hired by Royal Mail to help us clear any mail delayed by strikes and help with Christmas volumes are entirely in line with all employment law," the representative stated.

In other news, Paul Kenny, GMB general secretary, has written to Lord Peter Mandelson demanding that he and his department instruct the relevant agency to investigate cases of employment agencies breaking the law by supplying Royal Mail with short-term workers.

Written by Tom Sands


Article Added: 03/11/2009 09:26:57