Post workers set to vote on strike

MAIL deliveries could be crippled by militant postmen staging the first national strike since 1996, it emerged at the weekend.

Royal Mail is on a collision course with the Communication Workers Union over a 14.5% pay offer linked to postal changes, including the axing of twice- daily deliveries in favour of one.

After eight months of negotiations, talks have broken down and some 160,000 postal workers are to be balloted on industrial action.

Royal Mail is already struggling to meet delivery targets. It is facing competition and cutting 30,000 jobs to help stem losses of £750,000 day.

Managers say the offer would bring the basic average wage for postal staff up from £260 to £300 a week.

But the union claims the only definite money on offer is 3% from October and a further 1.5% next April. The union said it was being asked to agree to 30,000 job cuts, which it warned would destroy postal service.

Deputy general secretary Dave Ward said: 'The Royal Mail is being dishonest by claiming they are offering 14.5%. If that was the case, the union would be biting their hand off.'

Allan Leighton, chairman of Royal Mail, wrote directly to 160,000 postmen and women last month laying out the 18-month deal. The move infuriated union leaders. A Royal Mail spokesman said the latest offer was simpler and contained fewer strings than one recommended for acceptance earlier in the year by the union leadership. But talks between the two sides broke down over the weekend.

A ballot is expected to be announced today or tomorrow by Billy Hayes, the union's general secretary and one of the new Left-wing 'awkward squad' of union chiefs. The process would take three to four weeks, meaning strikes could begin early next month.

But there are also fears of wildcat walkouts by angry hardliners - particularly in London.

Relations soured further on Sunday after it emerged that Royal Mail is threatening to sue the union over a leaflet produced by its London branch which claims that Leighton had awarded himself a 'big, fat pay cheque and £3m bonus'. It depicts Leighton as a used car salesman with a wad of money in his hand and says his claims about the pay offer are untrue.

Royal Mail solicitors have written to the union warning that they believe the poster, distributed to members as part of a claim for an increase in the London Weighting Allowance, is untrue and defamatory. Leighton earns around £180,000 in pay and bonuses.

Royal Mail's industrial relations had been improving dramatically over the past 18 months, with fewer stoppages.

Now Leighton and chief executive Adam Crozier, the former head of the Football Association, believe the row will be a moment of truth. They are likely to appeal directly to employees. One Royal Mail official said: 'Some people have a death wish for this company.'