Postman gets the Sack

A few weeks ago I wrote this article regarding the Sheffield BNP Organiser - Jordan Pont and a phone call he made to the Toby Foster Show on Radio Sheffield.
Well as a result of this call it appears that Pont has been sacked from his job by the Royal Mail.
Details are a bit sketchy at the moment but Pont put up a post on Facebook last night -



I'm awaiting confirmation from Royal Mail which I doubt I will get until Monday.

EDIT Update

So using lack of diversity training as a defence didn't work then?

Shit Through My Letterbox

It's not everyday Nick Griffin writes to me begging for cash, but that's exactly what he's done. This morning thousands of BNP leaflets polluted Stokie letter boxes with their usual mix of lies and hate.

As most readers will be aware, the posties' union, the CWU has agreed a conscience clause with Royal Mail management that allows postal workers the right to refuse delivery of offensive material. As a racist, fascist organisation that would like nothing better than to see "Marxist" trade unions ground beneath the jack boot, the BNP have always fallen foul of the conscience clause. To get round this, the BNP have bundled their pathetic pleas for cash in an unbranded envelope featuring a glum, elderly couple and the legend "Ay up duck, thar's sum rate gud stuff fer Stokies in 'ere" (pictured). Don't be surprised if they use a repurposed envelope elsewhere.

There's no need to dwell on the begging letter itself, except to say Nazi Nick must think Stokies are as thick as his minions if he wants us to swallow the whopper that "tens of thousands of pensioners freeze to death in winter, even here in Stoke" (underlining theirs).

NB: The BNP have provided a free post envelope with their material. I'm only sayin'.

A Very Public Sociologist

London postal workers refusing to deliver BNP leaflets

The British National Party is fuming after hundreds of postal workers across South London refused to deliver election leaflets.

The Royal Mail is legally obliged to deliver the leaflets but Communication Workers Union members are exercising a "conscience clause" in their contract not to carry out the work. Workers say they disagree with the controversial far-right parties policies which include voluntarily resettling immigrants. That same union today announced intentions to strike over pay.

Managers agreed to the clause and have been forced to draft in expensive agency workers to offices in Brixton, Stockwell and South Lambeth to clear the backlog.

Pollsters are predicting a "electoral breakthrough" for the party in European and local elections on Thursday with a perfect storm of voter apathy in the wake of the expenses scandal and a low turnout.

"Members won't touch them"

CWU official Martin Walsh told the South London Press: "The leaflets came in last Tuesday but our members wouldn’t touch them. We have a national agreement that states that staff do not have to deliver them but bosses still put our members under pressure. In the end, agency staff were brought in to deliver them."

Staff are "corrupting electotral process"

A BNP spokesman said postal staff are corrupting "the election process not to deliver the leaflets". Adding: "If they don’t want to deliver them they should not turn up to work, not get paid and give the money to someone else who is willing to do the job."

Exceptional circumstances

A Royal Mail spokesman would not comment on agency staff having to deliver the pamphlets, but added: He said: "Royal Mail has legal obligations under the Representation of People Act to deliver election material, so long as the material is legal, and so we deliver all legitimate literature from all parties. In exceptional circumstances – where any individual has a genuine concern – we encourage them to discuss it with their manager and, if necessary, we make alternative arrangements.

We’re not able to comment on individual offices, however can confirm that all election material due to be delivered by the Royal Mail is being dealt with in accordance with the terms of the service paid for by customers."

London Daily News

Posties in BNP win

Sickened posties have won the right to refuse to deliver election leaflets for the racist BNP. Hundreds objected to the European Election leaflets. Others had been threatened, chased and spat as they tried to post it, the CWU union said.

Royal Mail - legally obliged to deliver election material - yesterday vowed to honour an agreed “conscience clause” allowing staff to choose not to post mail they find “offensive”. It may hire casuals to help deliver the estimated 29million leaflets.

Sun

Bristol couple say BNP leaflet 'offensive'

A sales rep who received a leaflet promoting the British National Party through his letterbox has taken it to the police claiming it was hate mail.

Reg Shaw, 47, is among hundreds of people in the Bristol area to have received the election material through the post in the past few days. He says he couldn't believe the leaflet had been delivered to his home in Thornbury by the Royal Mail. He said: "It's the sort of thing you would expect to be delivered by a BNP supporter or councillor, but not the Royal Mail. If you look on the Royal Mail website, it says the company supports diversity. But I believe this is an out- and-out racist leaflet. I took it to the police station and said it was hate mail and I wanted it treated as a racist incident.

"The leaflet said the European elections were the 'new Battle of Britain'. It had pictures of white families on it and had a list of all of the country's military battles on it in history. It's horrible and I find it offensive because I come from a military family. I also find it offensive because my wife is black and American."

Mr Shaw added: "When the postman handed the leaflet to me I said to him 'Are you happy distributing this stuff?' He said he had no choice and that if he refused he would be sacked."

The BNP leaflets have also been delivered in Whitchurch, where it is claimed that some people have associated local businesses with the BNP because their promotional material was delivered through their doors at the same time.

Spokesman for the BNP, John Walker, said leaflets promoting the BNP in the run up to the European Elections would be delivered by Royal Mail to every home in country. He said: "Every leaflet has been cleared by the Royal Mail legal department beforehand so it appears that Mr Shaw is just pushing his own political agenda rather than anything else. If he has an issue with legality, he should go to the Royal Mail."

Electoral Commission spokeswoman Sarah Garrett said parties were entitled to leaflet voters as long as they stuck to spending limits and adhered to rules "defamatory remarks and anything offensive".

Each party can spend up to £45,000 for every candidate they have standing in each region. In the South West, the BNP has six candidates so is entitled to spend £270,000 on promotional material in the region.

Bristol Evening Post

Postmen 'threatened with sack' for refusing to deliver BNP leaflets

Postal workers claim they are being forced to deliver British National Party election leaflets or face the sack.

Royal Mail bosses are said to have warned postmen they could lose their jobs unless they carry the ultra-Right-wing party's campaign literature. Around 100 workers in the West Country have told union leaders they will not carry the anti-immigration leaflets because they do not want to promote the BNP's extremist 'rubbish'.

Postmen, who were asked to start delivering the BNP's 29million leaflets this week ahead of the European elections next month, are also said to be afraid for their safety if they are seen delivering the anti-immigration message in racially mixed areas.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has accused Royal Mail chiefs in Bristol and Somerset of 'bullying' and says one office threatened workers with the sack if they did not comply. Bristol and District CWU spokesman Dave Wilshire said today: 'What's happening is that managers in Bristol are effectively bullying people. Someone from Thornbury said to me if we don't deliver it we will get the sack. That is outrageous.'

Royal Mail is breaking a 'conscience clause' agreed four years ago which allows staff to refuse to deliver literature they find offensive, he said.

'Over the past 48 hours I've had around 32 calls from individual members and those speaking on behalf of groups, saying they don't want to deliver the material. That is fair enough. The clause says members don't have to deliver material if they feel threatened or if it is against their personal beliefs.'

He added: 'In Bristol we have the St Paul's area which has a very high density of those from ethnic backgrounds. Anyone being expected to post BNP stuff through there is going to feel at risk.'

Mail Online

Postie BNP leaflet row

Sheffield postmen say they are "disgusted" after being asked to deliver leaflets for the British National Party along with normal mail. Some posties at the Barnsley Road sorting office in Firth Park are refusing to deliver the leaflets for the far-right party.

Political parties, along with any other organisation, can pay Royal Mail to deliver flyers on their behalf as long as they meet "advertising and legal" guidelines.

But one member of staff, who did not wanted to be named, said: "We have received a load of BNP leaflets to be delivered to every house on each route. Bearing in mind large areas of S5, like Firth Park, have a large Asian and other ethnic minority population, I find it disgusting that Royal Mail would allow this to happen. I myself will be refusing to deliver the leaflets and, like other members of staff, am disgusted Royal Mail would let this happen. The people in charge should be ashamed."

The BNP said it wasn't up to postmen to decide what to deliver. Spokeswoman Marlene Guest said: "There are a lot of things that go out by mail that people could object to, but it's the postmen's job to deliver things. We are a legitimate political party. Some of these people who are objecting should come to one of our meetings and listen before they object."

Royal Mail declined to say if staff would face any disciplinary action for refusing to deliver the leaflets. But a spokesman said: "If any member of staff with a genuine concern raises it with their manager, they will be happy to discuss it with them."

Sheffield Star

CWU National Equality Officer Linda Roy says:

"The CWU have in fact taken a very proactive stance on this issue and we have negotiated an agreement with the business which effectively is a conscience clause and this allows our members the opportunity to decline to deliver material of this nature.

Given the Euro elections are coming up we actually communicated this to all our branches [including those in the Sheffield area] as it is especially important in times like these."