Concerns over wages.. only a 2.5% increase on offer..
Concerns over modernisation plans which.. according to the Union.. would cost close to 40 thousand jobs throughout the system..
Now.. after this strike ends next Wednesday..the CWU plans to stage a programme of rolling strikes each Monday until the dispute is settled.
The union's deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, says the strikes were "a proportionate response to an employer that is completely out of control," after five weeks of negotiations..
So.. Royal Mail has decided to start imposing changes on workers' conditions without union agreement from next week.
The Royal Mail spokesman has asked customers to avoid posting mail during the strikes to avoid a backlog.. but if they do, to post it at Post Office branches.. they'll remain open as usual.
But.. it's another legacy from Gordon's stint as Chancellor..
And it's raised the question as to why some professions have not been deemed 'essential services'.. police.. firemen.. doctors and nurses.. ambulance drivers.. postal employees.. all of course entitled to Union representation for negotiation with their various employers.. but denied the right to any work action other than 'work to rule'..
It's a choice when one makes when one takes on the job..
Accepting that what you've chosen to do.. any work issues must go to binding arbitration.. and while this process is underway, it's work as usual..
'Why has the government not adopted this process..?' has been asked a number of times by a number of people, and business concerns.
This will cost tens of millions, with the bulk of that sum to be absorbed by the smaller businesses who exist through mail order..
Unpopular.

And it's going to be a hard winter for our farming community..
What with livestock contained within a rather large exclusion zone.. wherein they can't be taken anywhere but their own fields.. the farmers are running out of graze and are dipping into feed that was meant to have kept a diminished stock through the winter..
Stephen Dennis.. who runs the Farm Crisis Network in south-west England.. says calls to its hotline have "quadrupled" in recent weeks..
"Some people are desperate now. They are just getting by day-to-day..it's the biggest time of year for moving livestock from one area of farms to another and also for rents and bills to be paid. The ban on exports is creating a massive backlog in the system and causing meat prices to plummet. Meanwhile, winter food stocks are being used up at the very time cereal prices are soaring."
Ahhh.. just what we need.. with the global economy teetering..

And the word from the States.. orders for factory goods saw their biggest drop in seven months in August.. according to US Commerce Department data.
Orders fell by 3.3% compared to a month earlier.. worse than the 2.8% forecast and reversing July's 3.4% rise..
Fewer orders for commercial aircraft had been a major factor behind the fall, down nearly 40% for the month..
But analysts seemed unperturbed by such figures..
"Signs that the world's biggest economy is slowing.. come amid wider fears over a global credit crisis that has impacted markets worldwide.."
Y'think..?
"I don't think factory orders are a significant new indication of weakness," said Charles Lieberman, chief investment officer at Advisors Capital Management..
But hedging the bet here.. investors would be closely watching data to be revealed tomorrow..
Job figures set to be released..

One wonders if Gordon regrets selling that whack of our bullion reserve back when gold was at it's lowest level for ten years..