Union responds after legal challenge postpones strike

The CWU communication workers’ union is calling for the biggest possible turnout and Yes vote for industrial action, after a technical legal challenge by Royal Mail forced it to call a halt to its planned strike on 16-17 February. Around 115,000 workers had been expected to walk out.CWU general secretary Dave Ward issued the rallying call to members in response to what he described as “a blatant effort to demoralise our members and discredit the union”.The union explained that correspondence had been received from Royal Mail’s legal representatives on 4 February challenging the strike notice which had been issued, on the basis of “technical issues relating to the dispute resolution process and the lifespan of the existing change ballot”.The union reports that: “after receiving advice from our own lawyers that, although we had a strong case ourselves, there was also risk to the union should we lose in court and, therefore, the CWU postal executive decided to call off the action planned for next week.”The union will now focus on winning a Yes vote in the re-ballot. “The best way to show to the company that we are not prepared to be bullied into submission is to return the biggest possible Yes vote on the highest possible turnout,” Dave Ward told members.https://www.cwu.org/news/royal-mail-group-ballot-dont-forget-to-vote-and-vote-yes