Legal expert claims Royal Mail has done nothing wrong.

The Communication Workers Union's (CWU's) legal challenge against Royal Mail using temporary workers to deal with the backlog of post created as a result of national strikes is unlikely to succeed, an expert has said.

Guy Lamb, employment partner at DLA Piper, claims that Royal Mail are not doing anything which could be considered unlawful, but the employment agencies supplying them could be.

He said that these agencies are regulated by the Department of Business, meaning Lord Peter Mandelson would have the final say on whether any action needs to be taken.

"Despite the rhetoric of the CWU, Royal Mail is not directly breaking any law by bringing in temporary workers during strike action. The laws to prevent the use of temporary workers to cover striking staff actually only apply to the employment agencies who provide the workers," Mr Lamb stated.

While the national postal strikes have damaged Royal Mail, they have boosted business volumes at Parcel2Go.com, an alternative parcel delivery service provider, which delivered 32,000 parcels last week.

Written by Lucy Pritchard


Article Added: 04/11/2009 16:14:04