22 June 2007, 18:17 PM
  • Postal staff are to strike a week today - Friday, 29th June - the Communications Workers Union (CWU) has announced.

The 24-hour strike will be the first since 1996 and comes after talks over pay and potential Royal Mail job cuts broke down, the BBC reported.

The union’s Dave Ward, said, “In announcing this strike action, the union remains committed to reaching an agreement and we have given Royal Mail a further week to conclude a deal before any strike action becomes necessary.”

Royal Mail chief executiv, Adam Crozier, said the business was losing customers because it had not modernised. He added, “As a result our costs and therefore our prices are higher than those that rivals are charging in the intensely competitive business mail, which makes up 90% of all postings.

“That’s the issue everyone in Royal Mail has to face and why we are so ready to continue talking with the union about the need to modernise. If we don’t modernise then the future for everyone in the company will start to look bleak.”

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the planned industrial action would affect Royal Mail’s relationship with businesses. A spokeswoman said, “Any postal strike will weaken further business reliance upon Royal Mail and will act as another nail in its coffin as more competition arrives.”