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Postal strike to hit deliveries Royal Mail workers step up action
(about 8 hours later)
More than 2,500 postal workers in Scotland are due to join a nationwide strike in a dispute over pay, pensions and future industry changes.More than 2,500 postal workers in Scotland are due to join a nationwide strike in a dispute over pay, pensions and future industry changes.
The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said its 24 hour walk out would hit Wednesday's deliveries, with further disruption planned at the weekend. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said its 24-hour walk out would hit Thursday's deliveries, with further disruption planned at the weekend.
Staff at Scotland's main mail processing centres are due to walk out at 1900 BST.Staff at Scotland's main mail processing centres are due to walk out at 1900 BST.
The Royal Mail said it was "hugely disappointed" at the strike action.The Royal Mail said it was "hugely disappointed" at the strike action.
Staff at centres in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness are expected to support the industrial stoppage.Staff at centres in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness are expected to support the industrial stoppage.
Pay rowPay row
The CWU said collections and distribution to mail centres would be hit along with Wednesday's deliveries. The strikes will see each section of the company, from the sorting and collection centres to those who make the deliveries, walking out for two separate 24-hour strikes over two weeks.
The action is over an ongoing row over pay and pensions. The move is designed to cause continuous disruption to the nation's postal service throughout the period at a "minimum cost" to CWU members, union officials said.
A CWU spokesman in Scotland said there were also concerns about future increased automation, which the union claims could mean the loss of up to 4,000 postal jobs north of the border. The union said the action reflects its growing frustration with the Royal Mail for its failure to take worker demands for job protection and increased pay "seriously".
In addition to Wednesday's strike, delivery staff are due to walk out for 24 hours from Friday evening. The CWU fears 40,000 jobs will go as a result of increased mechanisation of the system.
The Royal Mail said no decision had been taken on the future of the pension scheme. Norrie Watson, divisional representative for the CWU in Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: "We accept that all modernisation will cost jobs but we want to do it in a negotiated manner.
"We have always been up for change in this business. It has changed, with the assistance of the union, for the past four to five years and we have had to suffer job losses in the region of 30,000 to 40,000."
We need to continue to change if we are to continue to compete in our new commercial situation Ian McKayRoyal Mail
The union is also objecting to a 2.5% pay offer.
Mr Watson said: "A postperson who goes out in all sorts of weather and delivers a very efficient service is entitled to a normal pay rise."
Ian McKay, director of Scottish affairs at Royal Mail Group, called for "realism" and said the dispute was the "last thing" that he wanted.
He said: "The CWU don't seem to believe that we are in the position that we are.
"We need to continue to change if we are to continue to compete in our new commercial situation."
Mr McKay said the dispute was about change not pay.
"If our competitors are 40% more efficient than we are, that is not because we have bad workers, it is because we have not got the machinery and the back-up to let our workers work to their best capability," he said.
Two 24-hour walkouts have been held in the last month - the first national industrial action at the Royal Mail for more than a decade.