LTB 089/25 - Parcelforce ECHR Claim
- Angela Wright CWU Branch Communications Officer
- 4 hours ago
- 2 min read
No. 089/25
For the Immediate Attention of All:
Postal Branches
Parcelforce Regional Organisers
Parcelforce Local Representatives
Dear Colleagues,
Parcelforce ECHR Claim
Branches will recall that during the 2022-23 National Dispute, Parcelforce excluded workers who took part in balloted strike action from receiving premium payments for working weekends during Peak. At that time the CWU sought legal advice which suggested that this was an “unlawful inducement” to attempt to persuade workers not to take part in trade union activities.
On the basis of that legal advice, the CWU launched a group claim which circa 2000 CWU members in Parcelforce signed into.
Due to the Mercer Ruling at the UK Supreme court in 2024 this claim was struck out as taking part in strike action is absurdly not considered to be a “trade union activity” in UK law.
We therefore sought further legal advice to the effect that this ruling is in breach of the UK’s obligations under the European Court of Human Rights, of which the UK government is a creator and signatory. This includes Article 11 which covers the right to join a trade union and article 6 the right to a fair trial. The Union’s National Executive Council has therefore authorised a group claim to the ECHR on this basis.
We are now seeking authority from those members covered by the claim to enter into the ECHR claim. No legal costs will be incurred by the members to take part in this claim, they will simply need to return a hard copy of a signed form along with some details. A letter detailing this has been sent to all eligible claimants and is attached to this LTB. This contains further details on the process and legal background.
However the crucial message is as follows, if members do not opt in to take part in the claim, they will no longer have an active claim and will not be able to join this claim at a later date. Forms should be returned to Unionline by no later than 19 May 2025.
Therefore, as there is a good chance that some compensation may be paid out to individuals who take part in the claim, we would advise members to sign and return the form as soon as possible.
It is important to note that only members who took part in the original claim are eligible to join this claim.
Please direct any enquiries about this LTB to rwotherspoon@cwu.org or contact Unionline at echr@unionline.co.uk.
Yours sincerely,
Martin Walsh
Deputy General Secretary (Postal)
Davie Robertson
Assistant Secretary
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