Royal Mail staff vote on national post strike

The first national postal strike for six years is expected to be approved today after 150,000 Royal Mail staff are balloted by their unions.

Industrial action over pay could start this month. It would paralyse the postal service and cause huge disruption to the 80 million items delivered each day.

Both Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union see the chance of a breakthrough as slim although last-ditch talks under the guidance of conciliation service Acas will continue.

The CWU is refusing to backtrack over demands for a five per cent pay rise, which Royal Mail's parent company Consignia says it cannot afford.

But the Standard has learnt that the union's leadership is divided over the need for a strike. General secretary Billy Hayes is apparently less enthusiastic about industrial action than his deputy John Keggie, the union's chief negotiator.

The main agenda of Mr Hayes is believed to be limiting the impact of changes being introduced by the industry regulator Postcomm.

Industrial action would lower performance standards further and allow the regulator to hand out licences to other operators - a move that would take more business away from Consignia and threaten more jobs.

The CWU's readiness to strike is linked to anger at the regulator's moves to end Royal Mail's monopoly on letter deliveries. Proposals to axe up to 30,000 jobs as part of a £1.2 billion cost-cutting package are also blamed.