Managers will attempt to deal with the post during the strike
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People living in London are being asked not to post letters during Wednesday's mail strike.
The Royal Mail wants only essential items to be posted during the 24-hour walk-out over pay.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are demanding a bigger rise in their London weighting allowance than that offered by management.
The Royal Mail is offering to increase the inner London allowance by £300 to
£3,784 and the outer London allowance by £300 to £2,667.
But the union wants £4,000 a year for inner and outer London.
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We have made a very fair offer and there
is no more money to come - a strike will not generate more money, it will do
exactly the opposite
|
CWU Deputy General Secretary David Ward said he expected "solid support" from the 25,000 London members of the union.
He said: "We want workers to earn a living wage in London without having to work all hours of the day or night."
Backlog of letters
Although the strike is only taking place in London, it could have a knock-on effect in other parts of the UK over the next few days.
About 82 million letters are posted each day nationally - 16 million of those are in London.
The strike will cost the Royal Mail up to £10m and it could take
several days to clear the backlog of post.
The London Chamber of Commerce has said the strike will have a devastating impact on thousands of London-based firms, particularly small businesses.
A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We have made a very fair offer and there
is no more money to come. A strike will not generate more money - it will do
exactly the opposite."
A team of 4,000 managers will attempt to deal with the mail while the strike is taking place.
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