Carlisle postal staff in 24-hour walkout

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Postal staff in Carlisle staged a 24-hour walkout on Saturday ahead of a national ballot planned for next week.

Royal Mail is locked in an ongoing dispute over jobs, pay and services, which according to the Communication Workers’ union will lead to a backlog of undelivered post in some parts of the country.

And at 4am on Saturday, drivers in Carlisle were among many around the country to take part in a 24-hour walkout.

Royal Mail issued a statement saying the ‘vast majority’ of deliveries took place as usual.

“Ninety per cent of our people were working normally,” they said.

“Royal Mail is doing all we can to minimise disruption to those customers in the areas which have experienced industrial action.”

Members of the CWU will start voting on Wednesday on whether to back a nationwide walkout, with the result expected on September 30 during the annual Labour Party Conference.

Along with the drivers in Carlisle, staff in Birmingham, Bridgend, Coventry, London, Northampton, Warrington, Glasgow, Swindon, Bristol and Leeds took part in the walkout, according to the CWU.

Several delivery offices in south-west London also took action, in addition to Rochdale.

Strikes began at a local level in June, and have continued throughout the summer.