REPORTS ON THE UNOFFICIAL STRIKES

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Postal workers stage unofficial walkouts after end of strike

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 630163.ece

Sophie Tedmanson and agencies

The Prime Minister has urged striking mail workers to “go back to workâ€

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/mers ... 037419.stm

Union representatives are due to tell hundreds of postal workers the result of talks following an unoffical walkout at delivery offices in Merseyside.

Some 600 staff, who walked out after managers changed working conditions, will hear the news outside St George's Hall, Liverpool, at 1300 BST.

Talks to resolve the backlog of post and parcels failed on Wednesday despite the last 48 hours of official action.

Liverpool, West Lancashire and Wirral are involved in walkouts and sit-ins.

Other workers in Wirral are taking part in sit-ins in protest.

Mark Walsh, branch secretary of the Communication Workers Union (CMU), said the 300 workers striking outside Liverpool's Copperas Hill delivery office are keen to sort the issue out.

He added: "The mail will unfortunately be delivered late.

"We have come off strike to be hit with executive action to try and change some of the conditions of working we have.

"We don't want to be out on strike and we don't want to affect the public of Merseyside.

"If we get a local resolution we can get post moving in Merseyside again."

Workers are also concerned they will lose money if the strikes continue.

Police were at the scene of the strikes to prevent any trouble.

More official action is planned but Mr Walsh said union members hope to resolve problems with working conditions soon.

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http://business.guardian.co.uk/fullspec ... 53,00.html

The prime minister has urged postal workers to settle their bitter dispute with Royal Mail over pay, pensions and flexibility, declaring there is "no justification" for further strikes.

His comments came as unofficial industrial action broke out at more than 20 sorting offices across the country, a few hours after the end of a 48-hour national strike.

While deliveries resumed in most of the country, wildcat strikes were reported in Liverpool, Lancaster, Glasgow and east London.

Some workers said they arrived for a shift starting at 5am but were told Royal Mail had changed their timetables without their consent.

Speaking at prime minister's questions, Gordon Brown said postal staff should go back to work, and called for a negotiated settlement. He said the dispute should be brought to an end on the terms already offered by Royal Mail.

Up to 130,000 postal employees were due to return to work this morning after a strike that crippled services for almost a week, but unofficial action broke out at several sorting offices.

By mid-morning, unofficial strikes continued in some parts of London and Liverpool, although postal employees returned to work in Glasgow.

Royal Mail called the action "unacceptable" and called on the Communication Workers Union to condemn the unofficial strike.

"The overwhelming majority of our people are now back at work clearing a backlog of mail which is equivalent to less than a day's normal postbag," said a spokesman.

The Communication Workers Union said that it was not supporting the unofficial strikes but accused Royal Mail managers of "provoking" employees with sudden changes to work patterns.

A spokesperson said: "We are not supporting this action at all, and we are encouraging people to get back to work and support the official action which starts next week.

"However, Royal Mail should speak to its managers, who have been provoking people by introducing new working hours and cancelling scheduled overtime."

Royal Mail said it had previously warned employees that new working hours would be introduced because of new legislation that would restrict the speed of mail vehicles.

Union leaders will meet today to plan their next move, but on Monday they announced rolling strikes next week involving different parts of the service.

The CWU deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, accused Royal Mail of instituting "slavery". However, the postal service chief executive, Adam Crozier, dismissed the claim as "cobblers".

Mr Crozier said the two sides were close to reaching agreement on pay and pensions, leaving flexibility as the outstanding issue.

As the dispute continues, business leaders have warned that more companies will shift their business away from Royal Mail to other delivery firms.

Graeme Leach, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said: "Royal Mail is a clear example of an organisation which, if it fails to reform, will be overtaken by the competition.

"Management and unions ultimately have to work together for their customers. If the Royal Mail dispute isn't resolved swiftly, business anger will intensify."

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http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.htm ... to=newsnow

Postal workers took unofficial industrial action today just hours after ending a 48-hour strike in a bitter row over pay, jobs and pensions.

Workers in several parts of the UK, including Glasgow, Merseyside, Lancashire and parts of London, took action in protest at changes to their hours.

Some protested that they arrived for a shift starting at 5am but were told that the Royal Mail had implemented changes to shifts so they could not start until 6am.

The Communication Workers Union said it could not comment as any action was unofficial.

Up to 130,000 members of the union were due to return to work this morning after industrial action which has crippled services for almost a week.

Union leaders will meet today to review the dispute, which developed into a war of words yesterday after Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier accused the CWU of talking "cobblers".

Workers at the Royal Mail depot at Copperas Hill in Liverpool city centre were said to be sitting in their staff canteen.

Ray Lucas, local spokesman for the CWU, said: "Some workers have returned to work and some haven't. They are not picketing outside but are in the staff canteen at the moment.

"Reps are on their way there to see how many have refused to return to work and to talk to them.

Around 500 people work at Copperas Hill and I think most of them are taking part in the action.

"This is an unofficial action and has not been permitted by the union. My understanding is that the workers are still in dispute with management over shift start time changes which are being imposed on the staff."

Mr Lucas said Royal Mail intends to make some workers start later in the day, which had sparked the unofficial action.