• Thursday 43,700 staff in mail centres, delivery units in mail centres, network logistic drivers and garage staff walking out from 0400 GMT
• Friday 400 Sites in Plymouth, Stockport and Stoke will be doing bugger all too
• Saturday 77,000 delivery and collection staff across the UK

The CWU hopes to show that the Royal Mail is breaking employment law by hiring 30,000 temporary workers to deal with the backlog of post and the expected Christmas rush.

Delivery and collection workers at Royal Mail walked out as part of nationwide strikes.
Further strikes at Royal Mail will take place next week, starting on Thursday 29 October, says the Communication Workers Union (CWU).

Because, despite the strike, the government continues to maintain the Royal Mail’s monolopy on the British Mail market altenative providers are expensive. Nevertheless some of them are now turning away business because they can’t meet the demand.

If the strikes continue for a prolonged period contingency plans for delivery of hospital appointments and medical test results have been drawn up.

After months of unofficial strikes by the british mail workers today sees the first day of official action and also the announcement by the CWU of more official action to come.

The prime minister has urged both sides to resume negotiations to bring an end to the “self-defeating” strike. However, he shouldn’t be wasting his time, rather he should be opening up the British mail market to free and fair competion. That way workers can work, mail will be delivered and strikers can strike for as long as they have a job left.

The Communication Workers Union has confirmed that nationwide postal strikes will begin on Thursday 22 October. The union said it had no choice but to announce a strike after the Royal Mail rejected its latest set of proposals. This is of course total rubbish. The union is choosing to destroy the Royal Mail. If that’s their attitude then the sooner the whole thing is closed down the better. Let other businesses with workers who wish to provide a service get on with the job and we can all benefit.

On the first day, mail centre staff and network drivers will strike. On Friday 23 October it will be delivery and collection staff.

Royal Mail will suffer long term damage if the planned national postal strike goes ahead, Gordon Brown has warned.
The Prime Minister said the firm could lose major contracts if the “unnecessary” walk-out was not averted.

The sooner UK businesses and consumers take their business to alternative providers the sooner the country can move ahead. Gordon Brown should remove barriers preventing fair competition in the postal market to enable postal services from providers who wish to work to flourish.

The union representing Royal Mail workers has said national postal strikes could begin on Thursday 22 October. The action is expected to take the form of rolling strikes, affecting different parts of the organisation on different days, rather than an all-out national strike by postal workers.

Meanwhile John Lewis announced it was working with other carriers in order to avoid disruption to its online deliveries from a Royal Mail strike. Good for them.