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Royal Mail has said that it will lodge an application with the High Court for an injunction to prevent a 48-strike from happening, in a dispute over pensions and pay.
Members of the Communication Workers Union are due to walk out on 19 October at 11am after voting in favour of a strike.
On Monday, Royal Mail in a statement said that it had written to the CWU, invoking a "legally-binding external mediation process" and calling the prospect of industrial action unlawful.
The CWU was given a deadline of noon on Monday to withdraw its strike threat, but did not meet it.
“As a result, Royal Mail will today lodge an application with the High Court for an injunction to prevent industrial action so that the contractual external mediation process can be followed,” Royal Mail said. “A date for a hearing will be arranged with the High Court,” it added.
If the strike goes ahead, it will be the first time that postal workers have walked out en masse since the Royal Mail was privatised in 2015.
Although it is unlikely to affect the crucial Christmas period, It will cause major disruptions to deliveries.
The CWU last week said that 89.1 per cent of members who voted had been in favour of a strike, with a turnout of 73.7 per cent. That was well above the 50 per cent threshold required under the new Trade Union Act.
The union has also called on Royal Mail bosses to resign, accusing them of excessive cost cutting since the service began a two-year transition to privatisation in 2013.
(INDEPENDENT)
