Royal Mail Hires 30,000 Temps To Cover Strike Backlogs

The Communication Workers Union has described Royal Mail's decision to hire up to 30,000 temporary workers as "a stupid move" and " inflamentory".

In an interview with Billy Hayes General Secretary of the CWU, Andrew Marr in his programme Sunday morning (18th October) it was made clear that the Union wanted "to get back to the negotiating table" with Royal Mail and that hiring temporary workers was not the best move that the company could make.

Mr Hayes said that his union wanted and welcomed Lord Mandelson's suggestion of the use of the conciliation service Acas, and added that the decision to bring in extra workers was a sign of a management that was almost a dictatorship.

"This is about a culture of management that seems to think in a democracy that the workforce have to do just what they're told," he said. "What I'd sooner Royal Mail be doing is negotiating seriously about trying to find a resolution to this dispute."

Whilst not describing the extra temporary workers as strike-breakers, Billy said, "I think it's something that's not going to help resolve the dispute - it's going to inflame things," he said.

Employing extra people to do the work of staff who are on strike is illegal under employment law in the UK.

As is to be expected, there was no support from not only the Government but also from the Liberal Party. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg told the BBC news website:

"I think Royal Mail are right to try to keep mail flowing and the postal service going.I think the people who are calling for a strike are wrong, which isn't to say they don't have legitimate concerns. But taking the whole country hostage like this is the wrong thing to do."

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