Postal workers face mail mountain
The Royal Mail has said it will take two to three weeks to clear the backlog of 50 million letters left from the unofficial postal strikes.
Postal workers started to return to work on Monday, after a deal was brokered between the Royal Mail and union leaders.
Royal Mail’s chairman, Allan Leighton, and the CWU’s leader, Billy Hayes, announced the breakthrough at a London hotel on Monday.
Most staff are due to begin work again by Tuesday morning.
Remaining issues will be discussed by officials from the Communication Workers Union and the Royal Mail at the conciliation service, Acas, in the coming days.
Post boxes in London, previously sealed during the dispute, were reopened on Monday afternoon, but Royal Mail said it would take a couple of days to open them all.
Royal Mail said the strikes had cost tens of millions of pounds and could mean lost business in the long run.
Tesco has already announced it had ended a contract with Royal Mail because of the industrial action.
Business Post said it had received a huge increase in orders for its own special delivery service.
