A UNION is to seek an injunction to stop Royal Mail using agency workers it claims are being used as strike-breakers.

Royal Mail has recruited 30,000 temporary workers, which the Communication Workers’ Union says have been brought in to do the work of postal workers on strike.

The CWU, which will go to court on Friday to request an injunction, says between 300 and 400 of these are based at a warehouse in Sandpit Road, Dartford.

Meanwhile Paul Kenny, GMB General Secretary, has written to Lord Mandelson asking his department to investigate cases of employment agencies such as Manpower, breaking the law in the Royal Mail dispute.

The letter refers to reports of the recruitment and deployment of agency staff doing the work of Royal Mail strikers in Dartford, Slough and Bristol.

Mr Kenny writes: “There is an agency in the department you run that has a duty to investigate breaches and it has a very poor track record in enforcing the law.

“I am calling on you and your department to instruct the agency to investigate these and other cases and to properly enforce the law for which you and your department are responsible.

“GMB reserves the right, if you and your department fail to carry out your lawful responsibilities or act in a prejudicial way, to seek enforcement proceedings against your department and the government.”

Last week campaigners Right to Work held a protest at the Sandpit Road “outhouse” and handed leaflets to agency workers they said were being hired to break the strike action by postal workers.

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said: “The up to 30,000 directly engaged, fully vetted temporary workers being hired by Royal Mail to help us clear any mail delayed by strikes and help with Christmas volumes are entirely in line with all employment law.

“In addition we normally use agency staff throughout the year to help cover sick and holiday absence and fluctuations in volumes as well as higher volumes at Christmas and these agency workers are not hired to do the work of postal workers when they are on strike and also completely in line with employment law.”

The CWU has already announced there will be further strikes due to take place on Friday and Monday.