Strike threat to London's mail in jobs row

Postal workers in London have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in a row over jobs, threatening huge disruption to mail deliveries, it was announced today.

The Communication Workers Union said its members in the capital backed industrial action by 9-1, although officials held back from naming any strike dates.

The union is in dispute with the Royal Mail over jobs and conditions, claiming that services were being hit by "arbitrary" cuts.

CWU spokesman Martin Walsh said: "We're fighting against unacceptable attacks on jobs and services in Royal Mail at a time when the company is performing well.

"Strike action is a last resort for our members who can ill afford to lose wages. However, these cuts and the way management want to impose them are so serious that postal workers have voted 9-1 for strike action.

"We hope that Royal Mail will take notice of the strong feelings of their staff and enter into negotiations with the CWU to take a different approach to these cuts. As the proposals stand, this has nothing whatsoever to do with modernisation - it is about the destruction of postal services to the public.

"We want a national agreement which they previously committed to and have now walked away from."

The union said decisions around timing for strike action will be taken shortly, but it said it hoped to avoid stoppages.