Postal workers vote in favour of strike

Britain’s postal workers voted Thursday in favor of striking to back demands for a pay increase, though no dates have been set for a walkout.

Members of the Communication Workers Union employed by the Royal Mail voted 63 percent in favor of a strike. Sixty-five percent of the union’s 145,000 postal members took part in the ballot.

Billy Hayes, the union’s general secretary, said he hoped the vote would encourage Royal Mail to return to the negotiation table.

“We will discuss arrangements to implement industrial action early next week, but I sincerely hope that the result will encourage management to look again at their position so that we can reach an agreement rather than take action,” Hayes said.

Workers want a 5 percent pay raise, but Royal Mail has offered only a 2 percent increase, with a further 0.5 percent if customer quality of service targets are met.

Hayes said there would be no strike action for at least two weeks.

The CWU represents 300,000 workers in the postal and telecommunications industries.

Postal workers were last involved in a national strike in 1996 when there were a series of walkouts over pay and conditions.