The talks were aimed at avoiding the postal strike last Thursday (4 October) and the ongoing 48 hour strike which started yesterday.

The CWU said that real progress has been made in many areas, but there is agreement in none. The offer includes a pay increase of 6.9 per cent over two years but the union feels this is subject to linking unacceptable strings including a reduction in pensions benefits.

The CWU’s Postal Executive will now meet to consider the position reached through talks, and Billy Hayes, the CWU’s general secretary, said “Royal Mail’s claims regarding the numbers of people at work are a poor attempt to detract from the truth that postal workers are rejecting their proposals in overwhelming numbers. They should stop using their efforts to spin and start putting them into reaching an agreement.”

Royal Mail chief executive Adam Crozier said: "We simply want our people to work the hours they are already paid to work across the working week using the equipment we are investing in to enable Royal Mail to compete and survive.”

"The fact that the union leadership finds this so difficult starkly contradicts their public claim to support modernisation and change.”

Further strike action is planned for next week unless an agreement is reached, with the union outlining a programme of 24 hour functional strikes commencing Monday 15th October.

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