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SEA expresses its full support for the striking Belfast postal workers

Wednesday 8th February 2006

The SEA expresses its full support for the striking Belfast postal workers.

We appeal to the public not to be misled by the dishonest propaganda of Royal Mail. We appeal to other trade unionists not to allow internal squabbles to dictate their attitude.

Royal Mail management is hell-bent on intimidating workers in order to ram through job losses and smash union organisation, as a prelude to privatisation. Divide and rule is one of their tactics.

The fact that Royal Mail has brought in management scabs from England to break the strike shows how high the stakes are.

The strike started when managers confiscated the notebook of a worker who was keeping track of management harassment and bullying. They then suspended the worker for harassment!

Royal Mail has now taken their intimidation one step further. They have threatened four CWU activists with court action and financial responsibility for the strike.

If managements are allowed to get away with this sort of thing, the trade union movement might as well fold up

The postal workers have united Catholic and Protestant workers in Belfast. All along the Shankill and the Falls on Tuesday, people came out from their homes and shops to applaud the strikers’ march. In a sane society, this would be headlined and welcomed. Instead, the strikers are vilified and lied about.

The truth is that this is a group of workers who have taken a stand against harassment and bullying. Trade unionists should unite behind them.

The strike is NOT illegal. It is unofficial---because it doesn’t meet the requirement of Thatcher’s anti-union laws. This is not a good reason for refusing to support the strike.





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