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| Further postal stoppages planned | Further postal stoppages planned |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Postal unions are planning another two weeks of strike action in a further escalation of their dispute with Royal Mail, the BBC has learned. | Postal unions are planning another two weeks of strike action in a further escalation of their dispute with Royal Mail, the BBC has learned. |
| The current period of staggered stoppages was due to end on 7 August. | The current period of staggered stoppages was due to end on 7 August. |
| But the Communication Workers Union is expected to announce on Thursday it will extend the action until 20 August. | But the Communication Workers Union is expected to announce on Thursday it will extend the action until 20 August. |
| The union has called for "serious negotiations" but the Royal Mail has said its pay demands threaten efforts to make the business more efficient. | The union has called for "serious negotiations" but the Royal Mail has said its pay demands threaten efforts to make the business more efficient. |
| Disruption | |
| Workers are in the middle of two-week period of staggered stoppages designed to maximise disruption to the business. | |
| They have already staged two 24-hour strikes in protest at what they say is an inadequate 2.5% pay offer and modernisation plans which threaten 40,000 jobs. | |
| More than 98% of staff took part in Tuesday's stoppages at mail centres across the country, the union said. | |
| The union has once again extended its invitation to Royal Mail management to come and negotiate seriously Dave Ward, CWU | |
| Further stoppages at delivery and collection centres are due later this week. | |
| The CWU said a backlog of 80 million items of mail had now built up in the system. | |
| "The union has once again extended its invitation to Royal Mail management to come and negotiate seriously," said Dave Ward, the CWU's deputy general secretary ahead of Thursday's meeting. | |
| Royal Mail has said it has made contingency plans for further stoppages to ensure that services are not affected. | |
| The company has called for a return to negotiations but has warned unions that fundamental changes are needed if it is going to survive in a fully competitive market. |