Last minute talks could avert national postal strike

Both the Royal Mail and the CWU have been at loggerheads over Royal Mail’s implementation of its modernisation plan, which, the union says, it is forcing through without taking into consideration the interests and views of postal workers. Both parties have accused each other on reneging on a modernisation agreement signed in 2007.

Since June the CWU has been staging localised strikes at delivery and sorting offices and with postal drivers. In September the union opened a ballot asking its 121,000 postal workers whether there should be a nationwide strike, a move Royal Mail described as “totally unjustified”.

The ballot closes on Thursday this week and the result is set to be announced on the same day or the following Friday. Should CWU members vote for a nationwide strike, the postal service could be brought to a standstill by a walkout a week after the result is announced, although the actual decision of when, how and how long to strike will be taken by the union’s executive.

However the union said it was currently engaged in last minute negotiations with Royal Mail that could prevent strike action.

Sian Jones, press officer of the CWU, told IBTimes, “We have three days of talks with Royal Mail this week and we are putting all of our energies into securing an agreement which avoids strike action.”