Royal Mail Swansea ‘Yes’ to strike

Postal July 12 2018

A mass walkout at Swansea Delivery Office moved a step closer today, when CWU members voted by an 88.9 per cent majority for strike action over the sacking of postman Martin Henwood.

The result of the ballot was announced this afternoon and, unless the company “acts quickly” to resolve the issue, nearly 200 delivery workers will be striking – with the date potentially being revealed within the next couple of days.

Martin, who has worked for the company for 32 years with no previous disciplinary record, was sacked in May after bosses accused him of not following a procedure on door-to-door (unaddres

sed) mail, despite him following the protocol of the office.

Responding to the voting figures, CWU assistant secretary Ray Ellis said: “The huge majority is

a clear indication of the strength of feeling among the workforce at Swansea over what is widely seen as a blatant act of injustice.

“Having looked through the detail of this case, it’s also clear to me and the senior team that this is a deeply flawed conduct case, which cannot be allowed to stand.

“We have repeatedly attempted to engage meaningfully with Royal Mail at all levels, but so far, it has seemed to us that they’re not taking our objections seriously,” Ray explained.

“And their failure to right what appears to be a blatant wrong here has led us to the present situation, where strike action appears inevitable unless the company acts quickly to resolve matters.”

• 189 Ballot papers were sent out
• 117 were returned – a turnout of 61.9 per cent
• 104 (88.9 per cent) voted for strike action and 13 (11.1 per cent) voted against