The Royal Mail has welcomed an agreement signed by the Communication Workers
Union (CWU) and the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) to "help ensure
dignity and respect" for postal workers.
The CWU and the EOC began working together after the Commission was
contacted by a number of women claiming sexual harassment had been carried out
or supported by postal workers who were members of the union.
Satya Kartara, director of diversity at Royal Mail, said she welcomed the
new agreement.
"Royal Mail takes this problem very seriously. We have invested in a
huge training campaign for staff and have established regular monitoring
procedures to check that we are on track to stamp out the problem," she
said.
The company has established a confidential telephone helpline for employees
who feel they are being harassed or bullied.
Kartara said Royal Mail will continue to work with employees, unions and the
EOC until it has fully removed this problem from the business.
Under the deal’s terms, the union will establish a fully-trained equality
officer at each of its 200 branches, and regularly survey a sample group of
members.
It will offer support to members who have been harassed, and will detail the
actions it will take against any union members who are guilty of harassment.
Julie Mellor, chair of the EOC, said unions had a key role to play in
creating a zero-tolerance policy towards all harassment.
Last month, an employment tribunal awarded Asian postman Mahmood Siddiqui
almost £200,000 in compensation after a "vicious and sly" four-year
race-hate campaign at the postal sorting office where he worked.
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