Another wave of postal strikes will hit Britain next week, it was announced last night, as thousands of Royal Mail employees across the country brought the country's communications network to a standstill with the first of two 24-hour walk-outs.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) confirmed it would stage three further days of industrial action at the end of next week, starting on Thursday. It marks an escalation in the bitter row between the union and Royal Mail over employees' pay and the modernisation of the service.
The fresh strikes threaten to cripple Britain's postal system, creating a vast backlog of hundreds of millions of undelivered letters and parcels which could take more than a month to clear. By the time postal staff return to work tomorrow morning, it is estimated that the backlog will have reached 180 million items. By the end of next week's strikes, the figure is likely to have risen to 300 million, despite Royal Mail's desperate attempts to clear its sorting rooms and warehouses.
Yesterday, Gordon Brown was forced to urge Royal Mail management and postal workers to get "round the table" to solve the dispute, as fears grew about the impact a prolonged strike would have on Britain's 4.8 million small businesses. The Prime Minister warned: "If more and more customers leave Royal Mail and more and more customers stop using Royal Mail, then more jobs will be lost, so this is self-defeating."
The Independent has learned that Mr Brown telephoned Billy Hayes, the CWU's general secretary, in an attempt to avert the strike. The Prime Minister sought and passed on assurances from the Royal Mail that agency workers would not be used to carry out the strikers' tasks if the stoppage went ahead. Mr Brown is said to feel "very disappointed to be let down".
Last night, ministers claimed the CWU leadership had recommended the outline deal agreed with Royal Mail management on Tuesday but were rebuffed by the union's executive committee because of opposition from hard-line branches, mainly in London. The CWU rulebook allows branches to go it alone if they do not accept national agreements. "The tail is wagging the dog," said one senior government source. "This is not a dispute between the CWU and the government or even the CWU and the Royal Mail. It is a dispute between the CWU leadership and some of its branches."
Ministers are encouraging both sides to take the dispute to the conciliation service Acas but have been told that CWU leaders are not returning the organisation's calls. They claim the union does not want the details of the negotiations to come out.
The Shadow Business Secretary Ken Clarke waded into the debate yesterday, confirming that a Conservative government would privatise the Royal Mail. "This is the second strike in two years. It's driving all the business away against a background where they were losing business already," he said.
"We will make a fresh start with private capital, bringing in some expertise and trying to put this company back on its feet again, whatever the wreckage we inherit."
The CWU's deputy general secretary Dave Ward said Lord Mandelson had "misrepresented" the dispute and accused him of "telling untruths". He claimed the minister's judgement had been affected by the collapse of his plan to part-privatise Royal Mail, adding: "He is putting personal setbacks in front of settling the dispute."
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said about 70 per cent of the UK's small firms relied on Royal Mail for their post, and that the strikes would cost some of of its members thousands of pounds for every day they continued.
Jonathan de Carteret, director of postage broker Post-Switch, said Royal Mail would typically be handling 110 million items daily at this time of year, but that the strikes had reduced its capability by about 60 per cent, even after the 30,000 extra temporary workers it has hired were taken into account.
Up to 42,000 mail centre staff and drivers launched the first of two 24-hour strikes yesterday morning at 4am, with 78,000 delivery and collection workers scheduled to walk out today. Peaceful pickets were formed outside 37 mail centres, where workers were joined by other union activists waving banners and flags, attracting hoots of support from passing motorists.
MPs were told earlier this week that contingency plans for the delivery of hospital appointments and medical test results have already been drawn up in case the strikes continue. It has also emerged that the Ministry of Defence may charter extra aircraft to ensure troops get their Christmas post. Companies such as John Lewis and Amazon have announced that they have switched to alternative delivery services.
Backlog: How it stacks up
30m Backlog before strike started
107m Backlog at end of yesterday
184m Backlog at end of today
300m Backlog after next week's strike (about one month to clear)
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