Postal strikes called off

There will be no further postal strikes until at least after Christmas after Royal Mail bosses and Union chiefs agreed to a ceasefire.

The deal means that the 24-hour walkouts planned by 120,000 postal workers for today (6 November) and Monday (9 November) have been called off.

Both the Royal Mail and Communication Workers Union (CWU) have called for a “period of calm” before talks resume about the long-running dispute over pay, jobs and modernisation.

Details of the agreement are expected to be revealed later today, but according to some reports, the Royal Mail has agreed to review its proposals on modernisation.

The DMA says it is glad “common sense has prevailed”.

Robert Keitch, chief of membership & brand at the DMA, adds: “Our campaigning has served to highlight the commercial value of post as a means of doing business and I believe the message that direct mail is something that is inextricably linked to the future success of Royal Mail has got through.”

The CWU also confirmed that it is not going to go ahead with its posposed legal action over Royal Mail’s plan to hire 30,0000 temporary workers.

The Union had planned to go to the High Court today to seek an injunction against the recruitment blitz because it claimed the move broke employment law and that the workers are being taken on to crush the series of planned strikes.

The Royal Mail had denied the claims, insisting the move was intended to clear the backlog of mail and was “entirely in line” with the law.