This week, Royal Mail won a High Court injunction against what would have been the first national postal strike for a decade, by up to 110,000 workers and scheduled to take place over the Christmas period.
To be valid, industrial action ballot papers have to be delivered by post to union member’s home address and the ballot has to be conducted in secret without interference from the union.
the High Court found that the Communication Workers Union telling some members that "what we want you to do is.." take their ballot papers from the delivery office (effectively by intercepting their own mail) and fill them in at work was a subversion of the legal requirement not to interfere with the ballot and meant those papers were not posted.
In addition, Images were posted online of members holding and completing ballot papers at the delivery offices and a video was posted online showing members in a workplace canteen filling out voting papers in an event organised by a union official. The video was found to be clear unlawful interference.
For advice on collective employee relations, contact our employment team.