Post union legal threat over temps

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The company said it was hiring twice as many temporary workers as normal to deal with the effects of the strike as well as the usual Christmas rush.

The Communication Workers Union said it believed the decision could be unlawful and a spokesman confirmed it was considering taking legal action.

Union officials held fresh talks with Royal Mail bosses, with little sign of a breakthrough to a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and working conditions.

Up to 120,000 union members will strike on Thursday and Friday, threatening massive disruption to mail deliveries just weeks from Christmas.

Meanwhile 98 MPs have now signed a Commons motion supporting the union's call for peace talks to resolve the bitter dispute.

The Early Day Motion was tabled last week and is attracting growing support from mainly Labour MPs.

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the CWU, attacked the Royal Mail's decision to hire so many temporary workers as "stupid" and warned that it would inflame the dispute.

A Royal Mail boss said that a 30,000-strong recruitment blitz was not designed to "break" a union as last-ditch talks aimed at preventing this week's crippling strikes went ahead.

Operations director Paul Tolhurst said the temporary workers - around twice the normal amount taken on this time of year - were needed to "keep the mail moving" and avoid a big backlog building up. He told GMTV that "he hoped there was hope" that the strikes on Thursday and Friday could be avoided, but said the company was gearing up for industrial action.