Posted: 7.01pm Tuesday 19 May 2009
News & Reports
Postal workers refuse to deliver BNP leaflets
A growing number of postal workers are taking a stand against the fascist threat by refusing to deliver election leaflets for the British National Party (BNP).
Around 100 postal workers in Bristol and Somerset have refused to deliver the BNP’s election addresses, as have a number of workers in Macclesfield, Cheshire.
CWU union members at offices in Prestwich, Bury, Glossop, Wilmslow and Alderley Edge have also objected to delivering the leaflets.
Activists say that Royal Mail managers have attempted to bully and intimidate them into delivering the leaflets.
This is in breach of the “conscience clause” agreed in 2005 that allows postal workers not to deliver material that they find offensive or believe their customers may find offensive.
Dave Chapple, chair of the Bristol and district CWU branch, said, “After days of outrageous intimidation, Royal Mail backed off and has conceded the right of CWU members to refuse to deliver BNP leaflets.”
Dave addressed a gate meeting outside the Bridgwater delivery office last week where he told union members, “I am here to reassure any individual CWU member that they can refuse to deliver BNP leaflets if they so choose. The CWU believes the BNP is a racist, and indeed a fascist party. It is not a ‘normal’ political party.”
CWU assistant secretary outdoor Bob Gibson confirmed that “postal workers are well within their rights to refuse to deliver offensive material”.
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