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Courts up hold decision Monday Strike illegal
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Court halts latest postal strike
Wildcat postal strike in Liverpool
Experts say the strikes will cost Royal Mail more than £260m
The High Court has blocked a 48-hour official postal strike planned to start on Monday.
The Royal Mail was granted an injunction to halt next week's official strike by up to 130,000 Communication Workers' Union members.
Royal Mail says an irregularity in the way the strike notice was issued makes the action illegal.
The union insisted the strike was legitimate because it fully complied with the law.
Meanwhile, talks to resolve the dispute are continuing at the TUC in London, with few signs that the two sides can reach an agreement.
With the question of pay seemingly resolved, the negotiations are focusing on two issues, pensions and flexible working.
Ongoing dispute
The CWU wants talks on the closure of the Royal Mail's final salary pension scheme to be separated out from any deal to end the strike, while Royal Mail insists they must be part of any settlement.
PLANNED 24-HOUR STRIKES
15 October from 1800BST: Mail sorting offices and airports
16 October from 0300BST: Deliveries and collection hubs
17 October from 1200BST: Royal Mail drivers
18 October from 1200BST: Manual data entry centres
18 October from 1400BST: Heathrow world distribution centre
Source: CWU
What is the strike about?
Negotiations on ending the practice of workers going home early if they have finished their work are also in deadlock.
If talks between the two sides fail, rolling strikes are expected to begin on Monday and go on until Friday.
Royal Mail says staff should be available to help with other jobs if their work is done - so-called flexible working.
But the union says that in practice that will lead to staff working rigidly to the rules, which will lead to less work getting done.
Wildcat walkouts
The unofficial protests - which began on Wednesday - have been sparked by what the union calls "management's imposition of unagreed changes" to working hours.
Workers at all 21 delivery depots across Liverpool walked out over changes to shift patterns, with CWU branch representative Mark Walsh saying staff felt they were being "being bullied into having their contract changed".
But Royal Mail condemned staff in Liverpool for the mass walkouts, saying they were "wholly unacceptable" and not supported by the CWU nationally.
"The issue of later start times is one we have been talking to our people about for months and has been accepted in 95% of our offices up and down the country," a spokesman added.
Postal workers in east, south-west and south-east London also rejoined the picket lines over the dispute.
Meanwhile, staff in Edinburgh and Grangemouth walked out over pay deductions following recent official action.
Staff complained that cuts for strikes this week and last came out of one weekly wage. Royal Mail said the payroll calendar meant all deductions had to be taken at once.
However, despite calls from MPs to intervene in the dispute, the government has said it will not take action.
On Thursday, Business Secretary John Hutton said that the current offer on the table from the Royal Mail to end the official disputes was a "decent and fair one" and he hoped the dispute would end as "quickly as possible".
The comments came after Shadow Business Secretary Alan Duncan accused ministers of "lacking the will or direction" to end the strike.
Wildcat postal strike in Liverpool
Experts say the strikes will cost Royal Mail more than £260m
The High Court has blocked a 48-hour official postal strike planned to start on Monday.
The Royal Mail was granted an injunction to halt next week's official strike by up to 130,000 Communication Workers' Union members.
Royal Mail says an irregularity in the way the strike notice was issued makes the action illegal.
The union insisted the strike was legitimate because it fully complied with the law.
Meanwhile, talks to resolve the dispute are continuing at the TUC in London, with few signs that the two sides can reach an agreement.
With the question of pay seemingly resolved, the negotiations are focusing on two issues, pensions and flexible working.
Ongoing dispute
The CWU wants talks on the closure of the Royal Mail's final salary pension scheme to be separated out from any deal to end the strike, while Royal Mail insists they must be part of any settlement.
PLANNED 24-HOUR STRIKES
15 October from 1800BST: Mail sorting offices and airports
16 October from 0300BST: Deliveries and collection hubs
17 October from 1200BST: Royal Mail drivers
18 October from 1200BST: Manual data entry centres
18 October from 1400BST: Heathrow world distribution centre
Source: CWU
What is the strike about?
Negotiations on ending the practice of workers going home early if they have finished their work are also in deadlock.
If talks between the two sides fail, rolling strikes are expected to begin on Monday and go on until Friday.
Royal Mail says staff should be available to help with other jobs if their work is done - so-called flexible working.
But the union says that in practice that will lead to staff working rigidly to the rules, which will lead to less work getting done.
Wildcat walkouts
The unofficial protests - which began on Wednesday - have been sparked by what the union calls "management's imposition of unagreed changes" to working hours.
Workers at all 21 delivery depots across Liverpool walked out over changes to shift patterns, with CWU branch representative Mark Walsh saying staff felt they were being "being bullied into having their contract changed".
But Royal Mail condemned staff in Liverpool for the mass walkouts, saying they were "wholly unacceptable" and not supported by the CWU nationally.
"The issue of later start times is one we have been talking to our people about for months and has been accepted in 95% of our offices up and down the country," a spokesman added.
Postal workers in east, south-west and south-east London also rejoined the picket lines over the dispute.
Meanwhile, staff in Edinburgh and Grangemouth walked out over pay deductions following recent official action.
Staff complained that cuts for strikes this week and last came out of one weekly wage. Royal Mail said the payroll calendar meant all deductions had to be taken at once.
However, despite calls from MPs to intervene in the dispute, the government has said it will not take action.
On Thursday, Business Secretary John Hutton said that the current offer on the table from the Royal Mail to end the official disputes was a "decent and fair one" and he hoped the dispute would end as "quickly as possible".
The comments came after Shadow Business Secretary Alan Duncan accused ministers of "lacking the will or direction" to end the strike.
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