30.11.1995

Postal workers on the offensive

AN OUTSTANDING show of strength and solidarity by Scotland’s postal workers has sent a warning to Royal Mail bosses and union officials that enough is enough.

On Monday November 20 an attempt by management to cut jobs and impose changes to the working day without consultation at the Portobello delivery office in Edinburgh led to an unofficial walkout by 700 workers. As the bosses tried to get other offices to handle Edinburgh’s mail so the dispute escalated.

By the end of the week another 5,000 from Glasgow, Dundee, Perth and Aberdeen had joined the unofficial action in solidarity. “Management have pushed us around for too long. It’s our turn now. We will fight job losses and any attempt to impose new duties,” commented Dave from Glasgow.

Over the weekend an agreement was hammered out that was accepted by mass meetings, reluctantly in some cases. Workers at Hamilton were still holding out by the middle of the week.

The main thrust of the agreement was the withdrawal of all management instructions, with no victimisation of any of the strikers; there would be urgent discussions, at national level, regarding delivery issues across the UK, highlighted by the dispute in Scotland. These discussions would be concluded by mid-January.

Although it appears management has temporarily backed down there is a strong feeling among the workers that this is not the end of it. As Joe Malone, Scotland No 5 branch secretary, put it: “This was a magnificent victory on behalf of this union by the membership. If we can’t conclude a national agreement on delivery standards that is acceptable, the option of a ballot of the whole national membership for industrial action is still there.”

The anger, frustration and organisation of postal workers spread this action quickly and effectively across Scotland. Rank and file union members were prepared to take on the Royal Mail with or without official union backing. It is crucial that this confidence is not wasted but consolidated for the inevitable battles in the new year.

Throughout the dispute the Communication Workers Union has found itself tied up in the straitjacket of the anti-trade union laws. Its officials have been publicly urging a return to work in an anxious bid to avoid illegality and the wrath of the courts. The only way to carry out effective industrial action is to smash the anti-trade union laws. Workers in Britain need to make those laws unworkable through mass, organised resistance. Scotland’s postal workers have shown the way.

Nick Clarke