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A man arrives at the Royal Mail office in central London October 22, 2009. Thousands of postal workers at state-owned Royal Mail walked out on Thursday, kicking off a crippling 48-hour nationwide strike and blaming bosses and the government for failing to prevent the action.(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) |
Tens of thousands of postal workers from Britain's state-owned Royal Mail began a two-day nationwide strike on Thursday, bringing the country's mail service to a standstill.
The strike began after talks failed to solve disagreements over job security and work rules between Royal Mail management and the Communication Workers Union.
About 42,000 mail center staff and drivers began a 24-hour walkout on Thursday morning, according to the union, adding that about 78,000 delivery and collection staff would strike on Friday.
In addition, more strikes would follow, the union warned.
Union leaders blamed Royal Mail chiefs and the government for failing to reach an agreement and prevent the industrial action.
The Royal Mail denounced the strikes as "wholly unjustified."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the strikes were counterproductive and vowed the government would do everything it could to resolve the dispute.
The strike is expected to create a backlog of more than 150 million letters and packages which would affect Christmas deliveries and take months to clear.
