Postal disruption continues

Up to 5,000 postal workers may have walked out

Mail deliveries in parts of London are still being hit by unofficial industrial action.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU), which is not supporting the wildcat strikes, claimed up to 5,000 sorting and delivery staff have walked out in a number of disputes.

The Royal Mail says 2,000 people are involved, mainly in west and north west London

Two official strikes by the CWU have already gone ahead in recent weeks in a dispute over London weighting allowances.

The union said the dispute seems to have started at Southall where members are unhappy about conditions placed on their working practices

Walkouts spread as colleagues were suspended for action such as refusing to take on the work of people already in dispute.

The union tells us it disowns this wildcat action. Let them prove it by working with us to get their members back to work Roger Baynes, Royal Mail

On Thursday a dead rat started an unofficial walkout by postal workers in east London.

Up to 100 workers staged the strike at a delivery office in Leyton after the animal was found in the men's lavatory.

They claim managers turned down their request to use the women's facilities and for the women to use a lavatory in the staff canteen.

On Wednesday about 1,000 workers at Greenford in west London walked out over mail handling arrangements.

And workers in West Ealing, Acton and Kensington took action after a union representative was suspended.

Blocking transfer

The CWU's Norman Candy said: "The union does not condemn the strike - members have taken unofficial industrial action and we're doing everything we can to resolve the problem."

But Roger Baynes, Head of Operations for Royal Mail, said: "The union tells us it disowns this wildcat action. Let them prove it by working with us to get their members back to work."

Further industrial action could go ahead in north London where hundreds of postal workers are due to vote over supporting a colleague who claims he was denied a transfer to the Midlands.

Tom Doherty, who was sacked after he was accused of being a football hooligan, was reinstated after winning his case of unfair dismissal.

A spokeswoman for Royal Mail said it was "nonsense" to suggest that anyone was trying to block Mr Doherty's transfer.