Date announced for North Somerset postal strike

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THE postal service in North Somerset will be partially disrupted this weekend when 170 workers go on strike.

Postmen and women at branches in Clevedon and Yatton are to go on a 24-hour strike on Saturday following a row over planned cuts in jobs and duties.

They are the first protests by Communication Worker Unions (CWU) against Royal Mail this summer.

CWU North Somerset branch chair Dave Chapple said: "All Royal Mail workers want now is to be treated with respect by their employer.

"Right now that means a pay rise, retention of decent pension benefits, a shorter working week, and, locally, an end to the continued loss of duties, and reduction of full time jobs to part-time or casual ones."

CWU officials also proposed a ballot strike action to workers at the Weston branch last week.

A Royal Mail spokesman has accused the union of working to damage the firm's relationship with customers.

He said: "Industrial action will not modernise Royal Mail - it will simply disrupt the service to which customers are entitled, lead to an even greater loss of business and leave the firm far less able to protect full-time jobs.

"As mail volumes fall we need to make changes and become more efficient right across the UK.