Post delayed as strikes spread

Unofficial strikes by postal workers in London spread today, threatening delays to mail collections and deliveries.

Thousands of postmen and women were taking industrial action across the capital, with many mounting picket lines outside mail centres.

The dispute started when a driver was suspended but has spread as managers tried to move mail to other centres.

Sources among the strikers claimed that up to 15,000 workers had walked out, but this figure was disputed by the Royal Mail, which maintained that the majority of its employees in London were working.

Fresh walkouts today hit mail centres at Nine Elms in Vauxhall and at Romford and Ilford, adding to industrial action across west London.

Royal Mail chairman Allan Leighton unexpectedly turned up at a mass meeting yesterday in an unsuccessful attempt to persuade postal workers to end their strike.

He addressed hundreds of postmen and women in Greenford, west London, where wildcat action started last week.

The workers listened to Mr Leighton, but then confronted him with allegations about bullying and intimidation by managers as well as complaining about their pay rates.

“He went away with his tail between his legs,” said one of the strikers