Fears of a winter of discontent are ‘overstated’, say employment experts

Despite ongoing postal strikes and walkout threats by transport workers, fears of a return to the UK-wide strikes of 1979 are overstated, say employment experts. The Communications Workers Union (CWU) is in a bitter dispute with Royal Mail over pay, jobs and modernisation, which has led to a series of nationwide postal strikes. Bus drivers and refuse collectors have also been staging 24-hour walkouts in some parts of the country, while unions intend to ballot staff at British Airways and Network Rail.