Increasing threat of general strike as Post Office walkout likely to coincide with August shutdown

Postal workers turn down pay rise offer as they show support for RMT, raising fears of unified action

MORE than 115,000 Royal Mail postal workers last night joined Mick Lynch’s call for a co-ordinated general strike “across every town and city in Britain”.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said yesterday it expected its members to go on strike at the start of August, coinciding with the next wave of rail strikes.

The CWU said it was standing in “full support” of railway workers over the first national rail strike in 30 years.

Postal workers will now begin balloting for their own strike after the union turned down the Royal Mail’s offer of a 2 per cent pay rise. The vote will conclude on July 19, after which time the CWU must give two weeks’ notice before any industrial action can take place.

A CWU spokesman said last night: “We are completely in favour of what is happening and we stand in solidarity with every worker that wants to stand up for themselves.

“We have declared publicly support for the RMT and their demand for a just pay settlement. We ourselves are about to get involved.”

The prospect of a national postal strike running in conjunction with a national train strike threatens to set alarm bells ringing in Downing Street.

Boris Johnson has insisted that ministers stay out of any negotiations over pay for public-sector workers, but further strikes in the coming weeks and months would seriously damage the UK’S economic prospects at a time of fast-rising inflation.

Yesterday, on the first day of the largest national rail strike in 30 years, Mr Lynch remained belligerent. The RMT’S secretary general told Sky News: “If the Government doesn’t change direction, I believe more strike action is inevitable. Trade unions need to synchronise.

“If we need to have industrial action, we need to co-ordinate industrial action in every town and city.”

He said the RMT was “very sorry for the disruption”, insisting: “We don’t want to do that. We want a resolution, but many in the public, like us, are suffering from rampant austerity. The British worker needs a pay rise and job security.”

Executives of the boards of Royal Mail and Network Rail have been increasingly concerned about the threat of concerted action by postal and rail workers in recent weeks.

Keith Williams, chairman of Royal Mail and former chief executive of British Airways, is well-versed in rail industry practices after undertaking a “root and branch” review of the railways that was published last year. Senior sources said both boards have been wary of the relationship between Mr Lynch and Dave Ward, his counterpart at the CWU. He said he had been planning for a joint attack from the two unions as a result.

The TUC, the unions’ umbrella movement, said it also stood fully behind Mr Lynch’s rallying call. A spokesman said: “Working people don’t strike for the sake of it, they do so because sometimes it’s the only way to get their employer to listen and act on their concerns.

“Workers are living through the longest pay squeeze in 200 years. They can’t afford to tighten their belts any more, and the TUC will stand alongside workers and unions demanding better.”

The TUC pointed out that the Prime Minister had “promised a high-wage economy” but was now “holding down pay and attacking unions”, which “isn’t going to achieve that”.

The GMB is expected to announce tomorrow that its members have voted for strike action at Heathrow Airport among British Airways ground staff, including baggage handlers and checkin staff, with any stoppages likely to begin in July in time for the start of the summer holiday getaway.

Gary Smith, the GMB’S general secretary, told the BBC last week that he had no qualms about co-ordinating strike action with other unions in order to “leverage our power”.

He had denied plans for a national strike, but said that could be a consequence of pay offers far below the rate of inflation, adding: “You are seeing disputes across the country caused by the cost of living. I don’t think there is a single strategy at the moment – it is just working people saying enough is enough – but in time that may happen, particularly in the public sector.”

So-called “sympathy” strikes were made illegal in the 1980s under unionbusting legislation brought in by Margaret Thatcher. But it would be lawful if unions involved in separate disputes individually held legal strikes after ballots that happened to coincide.

Ballot papers for CWU members over the Royal Mail’s pay offer will go out on June 28 and the result will be known next month.

Terry Pullinger, CWU deputy general secretary, said in a video posted on Twitter: “Today we will be serving a notice on Royal Mail Group over a pay claim – our claim for an inflation-based, no-strings pay award.

“The company has imposed a 2 per cent pay award, miles away from where inflation is, totally inadequate.”

About 40,000 CWU members working for BT, including Openreach and EE, have also begun voting for strike action.

The union is expected to vote for strikes, the first BT company-wide strike in 35 years, according to the union.