The first national postal strike in almost four years will be held on November 4, union bosses have confirmed.
A 24-hour stoppage is being planned by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) amid a bitter row with Royal Mail over pay and pensions which threatens to disrupt the busy Christmas delivery season if left unresolved.
The union ballot of around 115,000 of its members at Royal Mail and Parcelforce returned a 4-1 decision on a 63% turnout in favour of industrial action, which is linked to the recently completed privatisation of the service.
The vote was returned despite a windfall under the flotation that left full-time staff who took up free share options sitting on paper earnings worth £3,545 by close of trading on Tuesday.
Those shares cannot be sold for three years under the terms of the sale.
A Royal Mail spokesman said the company was "very disappointed" at the result of the ballot, adding: "Any action, or the threat of disruption, is damaging to our business, especially in the run up to Christmas, our busiest time."
However, Billy Hayes, general secretary of the CWU told Sky's Jeff Randall Live:
"We're promising to protect the people who do the Christmas deliveries year in year out. We're about protecting our people's terms and conditions.
"We don't want a strike. It's going to be in (chief executive) Moya Greene's hands now."
Royal Mail chief executive Moya Greene Dave Ward, deputy general secretary of the CWU, said earlier: "Postal workers have spoken very clearly that they care about their jobs, terms and conditions far more than they care about shares.
"The stakes have become much higher for postal workers since privatisation, making this ballot more important than ever.
"Postal workers will not be the people who pay for the profits of private operators and faceless shareholders.
"The question now is whether this privatised Royal Mail still wants an agreement.
"We have offered the company a two-week period to reach an agreement and having already had many hours of negotiation, this is achievable if there is a will.
"What we want is a groundbreaking, long term, legally binding agreement that not only protects postal workers' job security, pay and pensions, but will also determine the strategy, principles and values of how the Royal Mail Group will operate as a private entity.
"This means there will be no further breakup of the company, no franchising of individual offices or delivery rounds, no introduction of a cheaper workforce on two-tier terms and conditions and no part time industry.
"It will mean - regardless of who owns Royal Mail - this company will not be able to enter the race to the bottom and replicate the employment practices and service standards of its competitors."
The union also announced a new ballot of its members at Royal Mail that would potentially enable postal workers to boycott competitors' mail to supplement the strike action.
The Royal Mail said it was offering an 8.6% increase in pay, allowance and overtime payments over three years.
An additional £300 lump sum in year one (pro-rata for part-timers) was also on offer as part of the proposed agreement, it added.
The company's spokesman said: "The three-year pay offer and groundbreaking deal on protections on offer from Royal Mail addresses points raised by CWU, and talks to reach agreement are continuing to further address these points.
"Royal Mail will do all that we can to protect our business and minimise the impact of any industrial action on our customers' mail."
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