ABSTRACT
This chapter examines postal workers' actual strike activity in terms of the specific organisation of strikes and strike characteristics. It analyses RM and union responses to postal workers' actions, as is the influence of the current legal framework on these. The chapter deals with the general characteristics of the national union's response to strikes by its members. It also examines the results of the strikes and their causes on a number of different levels. The chapter considers evidence of solidarity and sectionalism within strikes. It concludes that strategies of using unofficial action, official action or ballots need to be judged in terms of their appropriateness by reference to goals and membership support. The chapter explores the impact of the Conservative's legislation on industrial action on strike behaviour, and on the behaviour of postal workers, their national union and RM.
