Postal workers name two further strike days

A fresh wave of postal strikes will be held next week, union leaders announced last night. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) served notice of further walk-outs next Friday, 6 November, and on Monday 9 November.

The move came after mediators said both sides are now considering a series of proposals to end the "high-pressure dispute", with further talks planned for next week. Up to 120,000 CWU members will walk out from 3am on both days, causing huge disruption to mail deliveries, the union added. Earlier, TUC general secretary Brendan Barber, who has chaired the talks between Royal Mail managers and the CWU, said more work was needed to "finalise the terms of a possible settlement".

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said she could not give an estimate of how long it will take to deliver the 35 million items of mail delayed by this week's strikes, although "virtually all" delays to the 30 million items of mail caught up in last week's strikes have now been cleared.