Sacked posties get jobs back

6:47pm Monday 31st March 2008

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Postal workers sacked during a bitter industrial dispute have won back their jobs at Oxford's main sorting centre.

Communications Workers Union (CWU) official Steven Gill, and his colleague John Doran, appealed against their sackings last summer.

The dismissals led to a week's unofficial action at the Cowley sorting office, according to union officials.

Spokesman for Royal Mail Jaquie Stenson said: "I can confirm that both employees have been reinstated following our internal appeals processes.

"Royal Mail doesn't comment on the details of individual cases."

In June last year, 2,000 of the county's postal workers went on strike as part of a national dispute, after the CWU rejected a 2.5 per cent pay rise and a proposed restructuring of the service.

Tensions grew locally, with a stand-off between the union and management, boiling over in July with the suspension of two workers at Cowley.

A wildcat strike ensued with workers out for six days, building up a backlog of more than five million items.

More strike days followed, and matters came to a head in September. There was a scuffle at the sorting office and Steven Gill, one of the men at the centre of a wildcat strike, was dismissed.

John Doran was sacked for alleged gross misconduct.

Oxfordshire CWU representative Bob Cullen said at the time that he believed the dismissals would be over- turned.

CWU official Noel Fay said: "It's disgraceful Oxford has seen union reps and activists sacked by managers because of false accusations.

"This was a case of union-busting by rogue managers intent on bashing the CWU in Oxford. The sackings were used to target union representatives and those taking a strong pro-union position for the national dispute over pay and conditions."

He said an unofficial strike came about after interference from an individual police officer, whom he claimed had a personal business stake in a Post Office franchise.

The policeman became the subject of a complaint to Thames Valley Police and to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

A spokesman for Thames Valley Police said: "Thames Valley Police conducted a thorough investigation into the complaint and found the claim to be unsubstantiated.

"Now the complainant has appealed and the complaint is being referred back to the IPCC."

The sorting centre is due to close by 2009, with the loss of 430 jobs.