UK postal strike could cause local delivery delays

The current UK postal strike could cause receipt of mail from the UK to be delayed by three to five days, a Maltapost spokesman said, adding that the situation is being closely monitored.

Pierre Montebello, chief officer for mails and systems at MaltaPost plc, said that Maltapost has been in daily contact with Royal Mail over the last few days to monitor developments in the UK as postal workers began two 24-hour strikes planned for today and tomorrow. More strike dates are expected.

A third day of talks between Royal Mail and the Communication Workers Union yesterday failed to avert the nationwide strikes in a row over pay, conditions and modernisation plans.

"Since the start of the sporadic industrial actions, we have been in contact with Royal Mail international operations on a daily basis, and mail to and from the UK is being regularly monitored.

"We are also in contact with other postal operators who use Royal Mail as a transit point for possible re-routing," Mr Montebello said.

He added that the strike could cause receipt of mail to be delayed by three to five days, depending on Royal Mail's recovery following the industrial action. MaltaPost will update clients if and when delays in mail receipt or delivery are noticed.

The UK's Post Office counters and Parcelforce Worldwide, which is entrusted with the handling of parcels and express mail, are not affected by the dispute, Mr Montebello stressed.

There will be limited processing, movement, and collection of post by mail centre staff and drivers in the UK today. Delivery and collection staff strike tomorrow.

Royal Mail has said it will hire 30,000 temporary staff this year, double the 15,000 it usually takes on before Christmas to soften the impact of waht it called "unjustified and irresponsible" industrial action.

Britain's Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said contingency plans for delivery of hospital appointments and medical test results were being drawn up.