Royal Mail's CWU members vote in favour of strike action

(Reuters) - Royal Mail <RMG.L>, one of the world's oldest postal services, said on Tuesday it was "disappointed" that 94.5% of its workers with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) voted in favour of a strike action.

However, the CWU tweeted https://twitter.com/CWUnews/status/1239938926904778752 that the union would not be calling strike action at this point.

Royal Mail said it is ready to discuss the CWU's proposals for future strategic business opportunities and is meeting with the union soon.

The union members' vote in favour of strike comes a few weeks after Royal Mail's proposed 6% pay rise, which was part of a three-year deal with the CWU. The union accounts for the most number of the company's workers.

The UK-based postal services also said it has worked with the CWU to formulate and implement an appropriate policy for sick pay and absence for its workers due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The CWU said in a statement it would meet with Royal Mail on Wednesday to move a proposal to serve as an additional emergency service during the coronavirus crisis.

"We will be writing to the prime minister (Boris Johnson) to gain the government's support for this approach," the union said.

(Reporting by Samantha Machado and Sabahatjahan Contractor in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Maju Samuel)