Postal workers in Britain stage fresh strike

Thousands of postal workers in Britain have announced a fresh strike to oppose government's move to cut jobs and pay amid postal office closures, media reported Monday.

Members of Communication Workers Union (CWU) said the strike in England, Wales, northern Ireland and most of Scotland Tuesday would affect up to 4,000 employees in 372 Crown post offices, Press TV reported.

The strikes come to pressure the British government to rethink its plans to close or franchise one fifth of the offices, which CWU say will put some 1,500 jobs at risk.

"The company's plans are to downgrade the network, reduce services to local communities and hit jobs in the network," said CWU deputy general secretary Dave Ward.

The post office is a state-owned company, which receives 1.3 billion pound of taxpayer subsidy. The British government is aiming to privatise the company before the end of the year.