Do no-strike agreements have claws? asks Elaine Banton
Clashes over pay and modernisation have brought much of the country’s postal system to a standstill this month. Recently the threat of further disruption to postal services receded after the Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) reached agreement on pay, pensions and working practices.
The outline agreement was obtained after Royal Mail won a High Court injunction outlawing strikes for two days on the ground that the union had failed to follow the procedure required for notifying their intention to strike. Wildcat strikes had previously hit London, Liverpool and Glasgow after managers tried to introduce new working hours. The London Underground strikes in September 2007 over job security and pensions after Metronet went into administration caused chaos in London. Reported losses to both companies and the economy run into millions of pounds.
WILDCAT ACTION
In August 2007, prison officers staged strike action in breach of a no-strike agreement. The wildcat action by 20,000 of the 30,000 members of the Prison Officers’ Association (POA) led to the Ministry of Justice obtaining an injunction from Mr
