CWU and Royal Mail in last ditch talks to avoid strike

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CWU and Royal Mail in last ditch talks to avoid postal strike

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Last minute talks between Royal Mail and the CWU are underway in a last-ditch attempt to avoid a national strike postal strike, which could come in as little as a week.

Yesterday the CWU announced the result of a national ballot of its 121,000 postal workers. With a turnout of over 80,000, three quarters of those who voted decided in favour of a strike.

The ballot comes after four months of near-continuous localised strikes over Royal Mail’s implementation of its modernisation plan. The CWU claims that Royal Mail has been forcing through change “by diktat” without considering the interests or views of workers.

Royal Mail has said that changes are necessary due to an annual fall of mail volumes of 10 per cent. CWU has said the real drop in mail volumes is nearer to seven per cent.

The CWU said that, despite the result of the ballot, it was engaged in talks with Royal Mail and hoped “to achieve an agreement in talks which avoids the need for strike action”.

Should talks fail however, the union leadership will announce the date, length and type of the strike early next week.

The London Chamber of Commerce has condemned the CWU’s decision to strike.

Colin Stanbridge, Chief Executive of the London Chamber of Commerce, said, "We are not surprised that postal workers have voted for strike action but we are still deeply disappointed. Businesses have already endured months of wild cat strikes and there still seems to be no end in sight. Not being able to rely on a normal postal service has played havoc with firms' balance sheets, damaged relationships with clients and forced them to find alternative mail providers".

Internet sites which rely heavily on the postal service, such as eBay and Amazon, have also been forced to act and look for alternative delivery services for the duration of the strike, whenever it may be. The Guardian has also reported that Amazon has cancelled its contract with Royal Mail to deliver items of over 500 grams.