National post strike could be off

National postal strikes could be called off after union bosses made a list-ditch offer of a deal.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) wrote to the Royal Mail with proposals that it says would help restore customer confidence and resolve long-running disputes over jobs, pay and work.

If they are not accepted the union will press ahead with strikes. Expected to come at the end of next week, they would further cripple the postal service.

There are currently more than 1.5 million items of undelivered mail in the Bristol region, a mountain of post that has built up after three months of strikes.

Last week more than 75 per cent of the CWU's 121,000 members voted in favour of national industrial action, but yesterday they offered a final chance of a truce.

In a letter to Mark Higson, Royal Mail's managing director, the CWU urged the company to show it is sincere about reaching an agreement and avoiding strike action.

The CWU said it would call off strike action if Royal Mail, among other things, revealed its business plan for the next three years to help provide stability, recommitted to the principle that any changes would be introduced by agreement and agreed that budgets should not drive staffing levels.

Dave Ward, the CWU's deputy general secretary, said: "Postal workers do not want to have to take strike action, but neither are they prepared to put up with continuing attacks from a management which is failing.

"We have offered what we believe is a genuine alternative to reach a lasting agreement.

"This is an opportunity to avoid a national strike, restore customer confidence and resolve the concerns of staff.

"If Royal Mail really is sincere about reaching an agreement we expect them to take up this offer for the interests of all involved in the mail industry."

In a letter to theBristol Evening Post, Mark Ellis, regional operations director for Royal Mail South West, said: "I write to reassure your readers that as a business we have been doing everything possible to avert such disruption.

"We have held more than 70 meetings with the CWU over the last few months, and we continue to call on them to stop strikes and get back around the table for talks."

Dave Wilshire, secretary of the Bristol and District branch of the CWU, said he supported the call for a deal.

He said: "We think that it is a sensible offer.

"It gives Royal Mail a further chance to resolve the dispute and we hope they would look at it as a positive step.

"The ball is in their court, and their response will determine whether strikes go ahead."