Posties gear up for 'scab staff' protest

HUNDREDS of furious postal workers are gearing up for a demonstration outside what they have branded the "scab outhouse" in West Lothian.

Around 400 people will take part in a rally at noon on Monday at the Royal Mail delivery office on Whitehall Industrial Estate in Bathgate, where a number of guest speakers will vent their anger at the company using casual workers during the ongoing postal strike.

It is understood that Labour veteran Tony Benn could be one of the speakers at the rally.

The postal workers will then march to the former Motorola factory at the Pyramids Business Park in Bathgate which has been dubbed the "scab outhouse", where they will hold a demonstration at around 1pm.

Royal Mail has taken over the old plant for use by casual workers. The company insists the use of the factory was part of an annual arrangement to cope with the Christmas rush. It said the centre would also be used to clear the strike backlog if necessary.

The casual workers are part of a 30,000-strong contingent recruited across the country to keep the mail moving, but postal workers have hit out and said Royal Mail is wrong to employ agency staff during the ongoing strike.

Branch secretary of the Communication Workers Union, Willie Marshall, said: "We are expecting people from all over Scotland and the north of England to descend on Bathgate so it should be massive.

"The rally and the demonstration have been organised against the agency workers working during the official strike."

Mr Marshall also revealed the CWU will appear at the High Court in London tomorrow in an attempt to get an interdict granted against Royal Mail employing agency staff during the official strike.

A senior official of the CWU, who did not want to be named, said: "We believe that it is against the law to employ agency workers during strike action."

Mr Marshall said there will also be a small demonstration at the Manpower offices on Charlotte Street at noon tomorrow.

A postman, who did not want to be named, said: "The Royal Mail are making a mockery of the service and they are running the service down to its bare bones."

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said: "Royal Mail will continue to provide a service to its customers on Monday as normal."