Postal strike in London continues

The action is planned to continue all week

Hundreds of postal workers in London are on strike for a second day in a dispute over pay and job cuts.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said about 200 people were involved in strike action, with a further 5,000 set to take part on Tuesday.

Royal Mail said it made almost all of its deliveries in London and expected to make most of them on Tuesday.

The CWU accuses Royal Mail of introducing changes without the consent of the workforce or unions.

However, Royal Mail says the union is standing in the way of modernisation.

The CWU action will last until Saturday and it says a total of 12,000 staff will take part in the dispute at some point during the week.

On Tuesday, strike action will include three processing centres - Mount Pleasant, East London Mail Centre and South London Mail Centre.

Further strike action will take place across the week until Saturday, which will involve staff finishing early or not working at specific times.

Martin Walsh, the union's London divisional representative, said: "They (Royal Mail) refused to negotiate on the future and are introducing changes without the consent of the trade union or the workforce."

The union walked out for three days starting on 8 July over the same issues.

Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had angered union leaders when, during the earlier strike, he said they were guilty of a "bury your head in the sand" attitude.

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