A FRESH wave of extended postal strikes are being planned for next week should ongoing negotiations fail to produce an agreement.

The announcement of next week’s three days of action strike came from the Communication Workers Union hours after more than 1,000 unionised Dorcan Mail employees walked out on the company – some for the ninth time in two months.

Details of how long the new strikes will last and which group of workers will be involved will be announced in the coming days.

The Swindon employees were just a small section of the 120,000 workers who are conducting 48-hours of industrial action nationally, which began at midnight on Wednesday.

Some of the 100 workers who turned up to man yesterday’s picketlines said they felt as though they were the last group of British workers who continue to fight for their rights.

Dermot Fuller, from Stratton, a heavy goods worker, who said he has been on strike with his colleagues nine times in the past two months, said by striking the CWU were displaying the last bastion of workers’ solidarity.

He said: “We seem to be the last people prepared to stand up to bullying employers.

“The company talk of modernisation but they just keep driving down the business.

“I understand certain members of the public are angry but we have not taken this decision lightly and we did not plan it for Christmas, it just happened that way.”

Mr Fuller said the union was facing a political conundrum as their traditionally strong relationship with Labour had soured.

“But we are not acting on a political basis it doesn’t matter who wins the next election, or what their plans are,” he said.

“We are doing this as a reaction to the lack of respect being shown to us.”

He said many motorists passing the picket lines were supportive, with between 30 and 40 per cent showing solidarity by honking their horns.

Police were in attendance yesterday after putting up cones along Wheatstone Road.

However, officers said they were only there to ensure road safety.

The strikes are likely to cause further disruption to mail deliveries in the lead up to Christmas, which are already facing big delays because of this week's stoppages.

A company spokesman said: "Royal Mail absolutely refutes any allegations of bullying. "Modernisation is absolutely essential if Royal Mail is to survive in an increasingly tough communications marketplace - and against a backdrop of sharply falling mail volumes in the UK and around the world."