Royal Mail has every right in law to use temporary workers to
help shift a backlog of post, according to employment experts in
the Birmingham office of global law firm DLA Piper.
Karen Macpherson, employment partner at DLA Piper, said:
"Despite the rhetoric of the Communication Workers Union, Royal
Mail is not directly breaking any law by bringing in temporary
workers during strike action.
"The laws to prevent the use of temporary workers to cover
striking staff actually only apply to the employment agencies who
provide the workers under regulation 7 of the Conduct of Employment
Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003.
"These agencies are regulated by an agency of the Department of
Business giving any decision to take action against them the
responsibility of Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, who has
already stated that he doesn't believe any regulations have been
broken."
The CWU is trying to argue that Royal Mail is inducing the
employment agencies to break the law by bringing in agency workers
to cover the backlog of mail.
"Whether this argument holds water in the High Court remains to
be seen and current indications suggest it is unlikely that Lord
Mandelson will want to embroil himself in this issue unless
absolutely necessary, considering the impact of the strikes on the
UK business community and economy."