Postal workers draw battle lines with strike action

I'm at the CWU union HQ in Wimbledon, West London - where deputy leader Dave Ward is explaining the strike strategy.

Already the union has referred to "industrial warfare".

Read: Postal workers vote 4-1 in favour of strike action

He knows the public will find it hard to reconcile this strike vote with the fact that postal workers have just been given £589m in free shares.

Royal Mail says it is offering an 8.6% pay rise over three years.

The union members have a very deep suspicion about the long term impact of privatisation.

Individual posties I am talking to don't see how the old public service ethos can survive alongside private capital.

Many say changing practices already mean they are overworked.

From where I'm standing, it looks like battle lines are drawn for a very bitter battle.