THERE will be no post delivered to York's residents and businesses by Royal Mail tomorrow, when hundreds of postal workers in the city go out on strike.

Last-ditch talks aimed at averting a national postal workers strike ended without agreement last night and industrial action looked "inevitable", the Royal Mail said.

Union leaders say all 800 of the city's postal workers will take part in a 24-hour walk-out which will mean the population of York, about 190,000, will not receive any kind of postage delivered by the company on Friday.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the industrial action is borne out of Royal Mail's refusal to negotiate planned cuts to the service.

Paul Clays, north east regional secretary for CWU, said he was certain the strike would go ahead.

He said: "This is going to be a massive inconvenience for everyone in York. We apologise to any members of the public who will be affected by the strike, but this is not our fault - we are quite willing to negotiate, but Royal Mail is refusing to do so.

"It talks about modernising, but when you look at it, it is about cutting 40,000 jobs from the business, reducing the terms and conditions for people working in the business, and ruining the service we provide to the public and businesses."

Mr Clays said CWU has been asking Royal Mail to enter into negotiations around terms and conditions of employment and public service ahead of its modernisation drive, which he said would put the 800 York postal workers' jobs in jeopardy.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said the modernisation would mean a reduction in the number of people employed by the company, but that he could not say where and when this might happen.

At a meeting between the CWU and Royal Mail in London yesterday, the company's offer to workers of a 2.5 per cent pay increase plus bonuses (subject to efficiency targets being met), was regarded by the union as insufficient to call off the strike.

The CWU had written to Royal Mail on March 6 demanding an increase in basic pay from £323 to £395, and a reduction in the working week.

A total of 19,000 postal workers in North Yorkshire will be involved in tomorrow's strike, which will mean about 300,000 properties and 560,000 people in the county will not receive post normally delivered by Royal Mail.

Six hundred postal workers in East Yorkshire will also be participating in the industrial action.

Post offices will remain open during the strike.


The Royal Mail boss

ADAM CROZIER, chief executive of Royal Mail, said in a statement last week: "We do want to increase pay and rewards for our people.

"The offer on the table is a fair and realistic one - a 2.5 per cent increase in basic pensionable pay, an £800 dividend if performance targets are hit and a 50-50 share of any savings above budget at local office level.

"Against the backdrop of an increasingly tough and shrinking market we simply can't afford to pay more.

"We are losing business because we have failed to change and modernise and, as a result, our costs and therefore our prices are higher than those that rivals are charging in the intensely competitive business mail, which makes up 90 per cent of all postings.

"That's the issue everyone in Royal Mail has to face and why we are so ready to continue talking with the union about the need to modernise.

"If we don't modernise then the future for everyone in the company will start to look bleak."


The business leader

PETER KAY, president of York Chamber of Commerce, said: "This will be massively inconvenient for businesses in York.

"I hope the parties resolve their differences very swiftly and we get back to having an efficient postal service, because any strike of this nature is unwelcome by business."

Mr Kay said that the financial cost of the strike to companies in York would be absorbed by them. He said the importance of the postal service to business has been diminishing over the years, and that the industrial action would encourage companies to look for alternative methods of delivering their post.

"In the long-term, this will have a detrimental effect on the post office - something it can ill afford," he said.


The council leader

STEVE GALLOWAY, leader of the city's Liberal Democrats, said: "I'm disappointed the management and staff at the post office haven't been able to reach an agreement.

"The strike will cause some disruption, however, I don't believe council services will be seriously adversely affected as a result of a one-day strike.

"As far as the council is concerned, an increasing number of transactions are conducted by telephone, email and, critically, through our internet site, which has been equipped to allow for people to put reports - for example about problems with litter - on to it at any time during the day or night.

"Many other businesses in the city are less reliant on surface mail now than ever before in history and have other avenues which technology is providing."