Taken from the BBC's website:

The union representing Royal Mail workers has said that national postal strikes could begin from Thursday 22 October. The Communication Workers Union (CWU) called on Royal Mail to agree to a last-ditch deal. But they said that if this failed they would have "no option" but to strike.

Last week, members of the CWU voted by three-to-one to support strike action as part of a dispute about pay, modernisation and working conditions. The action is expected to take the form of rolling strikes, affecting different parts of the organisation on different days, rather than an all-out national strike by postal workers.

The CWU said it would give notice of the actual strike dates on Thursday 15 October. By law, it must wait one week before the industrial action begins - hence the expected start date of 22 October.

CWU deputy general secretary, Dave Ward said workers did not want to take action, "but neither are they prepared to put up with continuing attacks from a management which is failing". "We have today written to Royal Mail making it clear that the CWU is ready to issue notice for a national strike as voted for by three quarters of postal workers. "More importantly, we have offered what we believe is a genuine alternative to reach a lasting agreement. This is an opportunity to avoid a national strike, restore customer confidence and resolve the concerns of staff." The deal would address issues of job security, work levels, bullying and pay, the union said.

In last week's ballot, 61,623 out of a total of 80,830 workers who voted said they wanted to strike. But Royal Mail has said 60% of the total number of postal workers working in the UK did not vote to strike.

The company and unions have been unable to resolve differences about how best to modernise the postal service. The union insisted that the company was imposing changes onto postal workers, cutting jobs and pay, which they maintained was leading to a worsening service. Royal Mail denied this, arguing that managers were implementing a deal agreed between the two sides, drawn up after the last national dispute two years ago.

If postal strikes are confirmed, this would be a "serious knock to business confidence", according to David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC). "The run-up to Christmas is a vital trading period for firms and if this strike goes ahead orders will be lost and the fragile recovery will be undermined," he said. "It is about time those involved in the industry showed some much-needed leadership and brought an end to this disruption."

On Monday, John Lewis announced it was working with other carriers in order to avoid disruption to its online deliveries from a Royal Mail strike.