Britain is set for more mail strikes this week as the impasse continues in the pay and conditionsdispute between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union.
The CWU has called on 130,000 postal workers who are members of the union to walk out for 48hours at the start of all shifts between 12 noon on Thursday and 12 noon on Saturday.
There is to be a second 48-hour strike next week from Monday, 8 October, when strikers willabandoned shifts starting at 03.00 until 03.00 on Wednesday 10 October.
“Industrial action will cover all duties, scheduled attendance and overtime of every postalworker for (the) two 48 hour periods,” the CWU said in a statement on Friday.
From the week commencing October 15, there is to be a rolling programme of functional strikesto continue weekly until the dispute is resolved.
Royal Mail increased its original offer of a 2.5% pay rise, proposing 6.7% on basic payover two years with additional lump sums and including more money in the first year.
But the CWU says the deal would be conditional on workers agreeing wide-ranging flexibilitychanges at a time when Royal Mail wants to modernise the company to compete in the UK’s liberalisedmail market.
The union claims up to 40,000 jobs are at risk from the modernisation plans which Royal Mailsays it has no choice but to push through.
