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Anger over postal strike vote
A backlog of deliveries will now be cleared |
More than 2,000 postal workers in Glasgow have agreed to call off an unofficial strike over working arrangements in the run-up to Christmas.
Sorting office staff are returning to work on Friday and delivery staff go back on Saturday.
Union officials said they agreed with Royal Mail estimates that a backlog of more than 1.5 million pieces of mail could be cleared by the end of the weekend.
The action began on Wednesday night when more than 1,000 workers at the Springburn Mail Centre in Glasgow, serving much of the west of Scotland, walked out.
Edinburgh-Glasgow argument
Later, 1,500 workers at delivery offices in Glasgow came out in support of their colleagues in the dispute over payments for 12-hour shifts in the run-up to Christmas.
The Glasgow workers said they were getting less than other Royal Mail workers in Edinburgh.
Sorting office staff voted to end the action |
But there were cries of "sell-out" by delivery workers, who were also pursuing their own separate dispute over pre-Christmas working arrangements .
The union said later that the delivery men had agreed to return on Saturday when talks would take place on their arrangements.
Union official Tom McEwan said the peace formula put the sorting staff on a par with their Edinburgh colleagues.
"We have achieved that for Glasgow now, and they seem to be quite happy about it," he added.
Enhanced rate
The peace deal involves an enhanced rate for the extra hours that the sorting staff will work in the two weeks before Christmas.
CWU divisional officer Morrie Watson said he welcomed the return to work.
"The last thing anybody wants, particularly members, is for any industrial action in any shape or form," he said.
The union had declared the strike unofficial from the start and had called for a return to work.
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07 Oct 99 | Scotland |
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Reinstatement ends postal dispute |
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01 Sep 99 | The Economy |
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Postal workers reject pay package |
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16 Sep 98 | UK Politics |
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Unions send 'protect our Post Office' message |
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