UK High Court grants injunction banning next wave of postal strikes |
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Published
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Sun, 14 Oct 2007 21:03
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LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The High Court in London today banned British postal workers from taking part in more strikes planned for the start of next week.The court granted Royal Mail, the firm which runs the postal network, an injunction banning the Communication Workers' Union (CWU) which is staging the national strikes, from taking action Monday and Tuesday.Lawyers for Royal Mail argued that the union had not given accurate figures for the number of employees affected by the strike, a legal requirement.The union has staged two official 48-hour strikes since Oct 4, meaning many households and businesses have received only an erratic post service.Wildcat strikes also took part in London, the northwest of England and Scotland Friday.Negotiations are continuing between the two sides in a bid to end the strikes, which are over pay, jobs and pensions.Royal Mail, formerly owned by the state, has had a rocky recent history.It lost its 350-year monopoly at the start of last year and has struggled amid poor performance and plans to close 2,500 post offices by 2009.Postal workers have staged four strikes in the last few months after rejecting a 2.5 pct pay offer and Royal Mail's modernisation plans, which the CWU says would cost 40,000 jobs.Losses at the Royal Mail stand at about four mln stg a week, twice the amount of two years ago.Despite the loss of its monopoly, Royal Mail still operates most British postal services and employs 195,000 people.tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.comafp/jagCOPYRIGHTCopyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News.
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