Postal workers are to stage their second 24-hour national strike in the space of a fortnight, as the row over pay and mass-closures of branches deepens.

In a statement released today, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) announced that its staff would walk out from 7pm next Thursday.

The strike - which the union promises will cripple postal deliveries nationwide - follows a 24-hour walk-out by workers last Friday.

The CWU claimed that up to 130,000 of its members would fail to come to work during the latest strike unless Allan Leighton, the Royal Mail chairman, agreed to renegotiate his earlier 2.5 per cent pay offer.

The union has rejected the deal, and warned that the Royal Mail’s modernisation plans - including controversial proposals to close 85 Post Office branches and move services to stationery retailer WH Smith - will lead to the loss of 40,000 jobs.

“Allan Leighton now has the opportunity to avoid more strikes simply by returning to meaningful negotiations," Dave Ward, the union's Deputy General Secretary, said. “If he is again dismissive of his employees, then there will be further strikes.”

Mr Ward claimed that more than 95% of Royal Mail’s workforce took part in last Friday's strike, which he said showed the “overwhelming support” for the union’s campaign, however Royal Mail said backing for the walkout had been "patchy" and that 60% of its staff nation-wide had been working.

“The problem will not go away. Royal Mail are in denial if they think otherwise, and it is in Allan Leighton’s hands to take the workforce forward with him,” he said.

Mr Leighton has repeatedly insisted that the company has insufficient funds during a time of cutbacks to improve its pay offer, and warned that it has to modernise because of increased competition and reduced usage of Post Office branches.

“We are no longer a monopoly - people have other options. Our competitors are much more efficient and can undercut us on price,” Mr Leighton told the Radio 4’s Today programme last week.

He added that, as well as the 2.5 per cent pay offer, workers were being offered an opportunity to share in productivity gains and receive dividends.

He admitted there would be a "big number" of job losses as part of the modernisation process, but added that Royal Mail did not have a specific figure in mind and added that 45,000 workers had already left the company in the last five years, all voluntarily or through natural wastage.

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