A Royal Mail worker stood on the picket line in Coventry, England, yesterday. About 42,000 postal workers walked out.(Reuters/Darren Staples
)
British postal workers begin walkout
A Royal Mail worker stood on the picket line in Coventry, England, yesterday. About 42,000 postal workers walked out.(Reuters/Darren Staples
)
LONDON - Britain’s mail service ground to a halt yesterday after tens of thousands of postal workers walked off the job in a 48-hour national strike.
Rolling walkouts that began over the summer have contributed to a backlog of some 5 million packages and letters, according to David Simpson, Royal Mail spokesman.
Workers began the strikes over better pay and job protection against a plan to modernize equipment that they say will result in job losses.
About 42,000 postal staff and drivers began a 24-hour strike yesterday morning. About 78,000 delivery and collection workers plan a one-day strike today, and more strikes are planned starting on Thursday of next week.
The Royal Mail has struggled to make money since it lost its 350-year-old monopoly, and has had to deal with falling volumes because of e-mail.
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