Christmas chaos as post workers 'vote for strike'

[piranha]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1218017/Christmas-chaos-post-workers-vote-strike.html

Postal workers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a national strike - threatening Christmas deliveries chaos.

Sources at the Communication Workers Union say results of a ballot of its 120,000 Royal Mail members will show a significant 'Yes' vote this week.

The union will then have to give seven days' notice before the first national walkout can be staged.

Insiders do not believe the CWU will call an indefinite full-scale national strike. Action is more likely to feature a series of one or two-day strikes.

Such walkouts will have a major impact without strikers losing all their wages as they would in an all-out dispute.

The effect will be felt by customers for at least 24 hours after each stoppage as sorting offices try to deal with a huge build-up of post.

Recent strikes in London and Bristol led to a backlog of 20million letters and parcels.

Postal industry sources said last night that fears of a strike have prompted many families to start mailing Christmas letters and parcels almost three months early.

A union source said: 'We expect a big majority vote in favour of a national strike.'

Union chiefs say Royal Mail has provoked the action by 'bullying' staff over modernisation plans, which managers say need to be pushed through to ensure survival.

Royal Mail boss Mark Higson called on the CWU to abandon its 'unjustified strikes to help the business deliver the service our customers deserve'.

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[baldrick]

I think we're all expecting a Yes vote. Let's hope RM are prepared to reach an acceptable agreement.
If not they will be responsible for the resulting Industrial Action.

[not me]

The effect will be felt by customers for at least 24 hours after each stoppage as sorting offices try to deal with a huge build-up of post.

with mail being down how can there be a huge backlog?