Nationwide post strikes still on

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Three days of nationwide postal strikes will go ahead as planned this week, the union has said.

Strikes will begin at 0400 GMT on Thursday, with up to 120,000 workers involved in the stoppages.

Royal Mail condemned the union's decision to walk away from negotiations and go ahead with the planned industrial action.

Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union had been in talks for three days to try to end the dispute.

The two sides began the latest round of talks on Monday, after agreeing to meet at the headquarters of the TUC, where the agreement to end the last national dispute was brokered in 2007.

'Fair deal'

Earlier, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said the government wanted to see the original modernisation and pay agreement that was agreed there in 2007 fully implemented.

"It was a fair deal," he said. "It addressed everyone's concerns and everyone's needs, not just the management and the customers of Royal Mail, but also the workforce."

This week's strikes would follow two 24-hour stoppages last week. Royal Mail said on Wednesday it expected its backlog from that disruption to have fallen from 30 million to two million items by the end of the day.

They said almost all of these letters and parcels were awaiting delivery in London.

The CWU had claimed the backlog was in excess of 100 million items at its peak.

This week's strikes are due to involve:

• Thursday: 43,700 staff in mail centres, delivery units in mail centres, network logistic drivers and garage staff walking out from 0400 GMT

• Friday: 400 workers at three sites in Plymouth, Stockport and Stoke, who assist mail centres by reading and entering mail addresses

• Saturday: 77,000 delivery and collection staff across the UK.