The Royal Mail was granted an injunction to stop Communication Workers' Union members at sorting and delivery offices from striking. Royal Mail says an irregularity in the way the strike notice was issued makes the action illegal. The union insisted the strike was legitimate because it fully complied with the law.

The CWU had announced rolling 24-hour strikes to start on Monday and end on Friday, designed to cause maximum disruption to mail services with minimal financial loss for its members.

Other parts of the Royal Mail, such as drivers, may still strike later in the week but it is understood the injunction against workers at sorting and delivery offices taking industrial action next week is a major coup for the struggling company in its efforts to reach a deal with union officials. Royal Mail has said that the High Court injunction covers the whole of the UK.

Continuing dispute
Meanwhile, talks to resolve the dispute are continuing at the TUC in London, with few signs that the two sides can reach an agreement. With the question of pay seemingly resolved, the negotiations are focusing on two issues, pensions and flexible working.

The CWU wants talks on the closure of the Royal Mail's final salary pension scheme to be separated out from any deal to end the strike, while Royal Mail insists they must be part of any settlement. Negotiations on ending the practice of workers going home early if they have finished their work are also in deadlock. Royal Mail says staff should be available to help with other jobs if their work is done - so-called flexible working. But the union says that in practice that will lead to staff working rigidly to the rules, which will lead to less work getting done.

Wildcat walkouts
The unofficial protests - which began on Wednesday - have been sparked by what the union calls "management's imposition of unagreed changes" to working hours.

Workers at all 21 delivery depots across Liverpool walked out over changes to shift patterns, with CWU branch representative Mark Walsh saying staff felt they were "being bullied into having their contract changed".

But Royal Mail condemned staff in Liverpool for the mass walkouts, saying they were "wholly unacceptable" and not supported by the CWU nationally.

Postal workers in east, south-west and south-east London also went back to the picket lines over the dispute. Meanwhile, staff in Edinburgh and Grangemouth walked out over pay deductions following recent official action.