TAVISTOCK postmen picketed the town?s sorting office this week as part of two 48-hour nationwide strikes, with the possibility of further industrial action to follow. The walkout at midday on Thursday and at 3am on Monday attracted ?more than 85-90% support?from Communication Workers? Union members, according to their representative Mike White. ?It?s mainly about terms and conditions, pensions and the way we work,? said Mr White. ?We realise this week?s action will be inconvenient to the public but it?s also about protecting services. Royal Mail are cutting collections at the end of the month, including the Sunday collection, with the detrimental effect on services to the public and up to 40,000 job cuts within the industry.? He emphasised: ?The one thing it?s not about is pay ? we only get the pay rise if we agree to the new terms and conditions. ?They want us to become totally flexible and change our start times at a week?s notice. They want to do away with our final salary pensions and we?ve got to work five years longer from 2010 and get less than we?re getting now.? Talks aimed at resolving the long-running dispute over the possible job losses, pensions and terms and conditions are currently under way between the union and Royal Mail but have so far proved inconclusive. Royal Mail was unable to provide local figures but stated that support for the strike nationwide among union members was weakening, with up to 90% working as normal during the first strike. In a statement the company said: ?Over the last few months we have concluded agreements with our managers in Royal Mail, all our people in Parcelforce, and the national network of subpostmasters ? all within the 2.5% available for pay this year. All of these agreements have been reached without recourse to industrial action. ?We are again urging the CWU to call off further strike action in the interests of our customers and everyone in the company.?
