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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Fresh hope of postal dispute deal | Fresh hope of postal dispute deal |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A third round of postal strikes may be avoided, union sources have told the BBC. | A third round of postal strikes may be avoided, union sources have told the BBC. |
| The sources said a possible deal was on the table. Royal Mail is not commenting on the speculation. | |
| The latest planned industrial action, scheduled for Friday and Monday, would be more disruptive than previous rounds as it would be an all-out strike. | The latest planned industrial action, scheduled for Friday and Monday, would be more disruptive than previous rounds as it would be an all-out strike. |
| At the heart of the dispute is the deal that the two sides signed to end the last national strike. | |
| Thursday's meeting includes the Communication Worker's Postal Executive - the union body that has the power to call off strikes. A statement is expected later. Even if the strike is called off, it does not mean that the dispute has been resolved. | |
| Job losses | |
| Royal Mail is trying to modernise to compensate for letter volumes dropping by 10% every year as people switch to other forms of communication such as e-mails and texts. | |
| It has shed 63,000 frontline postal staff in recent years, and says it needs to cut more jobs as part of continuing modernisation plans. | |
| The Communications Workers Union agrees that job cuts are necessary, but disagrees over their extent, and over the future pay and working conditions of the workers that remain. | |
| There is still a 3 million letter backlog from last week's strikes, half of which are in London, according to Royal Mail. | |
| In total it estimated that the action caused 35 million letters to be delayed. Unions claimed the figure was nearer to 60 million. |