Royal Mail wins High Court injunction to prevent Christmas postal strikes
Royal Mail has secured a High Court injunction to block potential Christmas postal strikes.
The company argued that there were “irregularities” with the ballot which delivered an outcome overwhelmingly in support of industrial action.
Read more: Royal Mail launches search for new UK director
The postal service has claimed that officials interfered with the voting system by intercepting postal ballot papers, instructing members to vote in favour of strike action and pressuring workers to make their vote public.
Royal Mail said this amounted to a “de facto workplace ballot” which went against rules on industrial action.
The Communication Workers Union has strongly denied Royal Mail’s claims.
Members had voted to support the walkout by roughly 97 per cent on a turnout of nearly 76 per cent, sparking what was set to be Royal Mail’s first national postal strike in a decade.
Read more: Has Wework destroyed Softbank’s credibility?
In a statement on Twitter, the CWU said the ruling was “an utter outrage”.
The CWU had argued in court that the verdict of the ballot represented the largest ‘yes’ vote since the creation of the Trade Union Act three years ago.
Royal Mail had also argued that a strike could have an impact on postal votes before the upcoming general election on 12 December.
Roughly 100,000 Royal Mail staff voted to take part in the industrial action.