Post strikes go ahead as talks fail

[Geezer]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/200 ... -21780703/

28/10/2009

A series of strikes by postal workers will go ahead as planned from 4am on Thursday, the Communication Workers Union said.

The Royal Mail accused the union of "walking away" from peace talks and condemned the new strikes.

Hopes of averting a fresh wave of postal strikes collapsed despite three days of intensive talks.

Leaders of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) spent the last three days locked in negotiations with Royal Mail bosses to try to head off the new strikes.



Dave Ward, the union's deputy general secretary, briefed the CWU executive on the talks and later resumed dialogue with Royal Mail management.

But despite the negotiations, the long-running dispute over jobs, pay and modernisation remains deadlocked.

Up to 120,000 postal workers staged two 24-hour strikes last week which delayed more than 30 million items of mail.

That figure was reduced to two million on Wednesday but there will be huge disruption caused by the new strikes.