 LIVERPOOL postal workers will meet today to decide whether to call off the unofficial strike action which has crippled deliveries on Merseyside. A total of 800 staff voted to reject proposals to return to work at a meeting at Aintree Racecourse on Friday. But, after the breakthrough in the long-running national dispute over the weekend, officials from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will tell members of a deal which could also end the wildcat walkout. The un-official strike on Merseyside, prompted by a row over shift patterns, began on Wednesday after the end of the national official strike. Phil Callaghan, branch chair-man of CWU’s Merseyside branch, said: “We are hoping to get a reso-lution which will allow members to return to work sooner rather than later.” The meeting will be held in The Liner hotel in Liverpool city centre at midday. Meanwhile, postal workers’ leaders will meet today to decide whether to recommend calling off the bitter national dispute over pay, jobs and pensions which has disrupted mail delivery for weeks. The executive of the Communi-cation Workers` Union will con-sider a document drawn up after marathon peace talks. The union’s leaders and Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier signed a joint statement after an agreement was drawn up late on Friday evening. The union’s 130,000 members will vote on the deal if it is accepted by the executive. It is understood the deal thrashed out last week includes a 6.9% pay rise over two years, as well as agree-ments on flexible working and pensions. A joint statement said: “Agreed terms covering all the issues in the dispute will be considered by the union executive on Monday. Both parties will make a further statement thereafter.” Workers were due to launch a new series of official national strikes today but the Royal Mail obtained a High Court injunction preventing the action. Despite the legal move, both sides continued talking under the chairmanship of TUC general secretary Brendan Barber. Business and Enterprise Secretary John Hutton urged the union to back the deal: “As Gordon Brown has said, there is no justi-fication for this industrial action continuing,” adding “this is a sensible deal that’s been hammer-ed out and I think everyone’s hoping the union will agree to it.”
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