Isle of Man workers to vote on strike

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has served notice to the Isle of Man Post Office (IMPO) for an industrial action ballot on the UK island.. Postal workers will receive ballot papers from 18 February and have until 16 March to cast their vote.

The union, which represents 250 postal workers on the Island, is seeking a pay rise for staff for the 2009 period onwards.

CWU confirmed it is urging members to vote ‘yes’ in this dispute over pay after the company refused to go to arbitration.

Terry Pullinger, CWU national official and lead negotiator with IMPO, said: “We’ve done absolutely everything we could to settle this and avoid a dispute, but there’s just been no movement at all from the company.

“IMPO chiefs have stubbornly refused to offer a pay rise to the island’s hard-working postwomen and postmen, despite rising profits, and have even rejected our suggestion that the issue could be put to independent binding arbitration.

“The company really can’t have it both ways; on the one hand, they say they’re autonomous from government, and deny us the binding arbitration rights that the Manx public sector enjoys – but on the other hand, they claim that they can’t offer a pay rise because of the government’s public-sector pay freeze.

“Let’s not forget that IMPO is an entirely self-sufficient statutory board of the IoM government and, unlike other government departments, it receives no finance from central government and contributes 50% of its profits to the Treasury. Against that backdrop, everyone benefits from the dedication and the profitable results of our members’ efforts. IoM postal workers were promised and deserve their share.

“It’s our members’ hard work and dedication that has improved efficiency and increased company profits – so it’s only fair that they should also be rewarded for their part in this success.

“I appeal to the company – even at this late stage – to start thinking outside the box and get back round the table with us and let’s settle this now.”

Earlier this month, a spokesperson for IMPO said the company was “disappointed” with the possibility of a ballot.

IMPO said that throughout the pay negotiations for 2010, it has “made proposals including consolidating money into the long-term basic pay for its employees from elsewhere within the overall pay budget whilst ensuring the constraint of the freeze on public sector pay budgets is met”.

“These proposals have consistently been rejected by the CWU, who have maintained their demand for new money to be added to pay”, IMPO said.