Postal workers will be asked today to set a deadline for a strike vote if Royal Mail refuses to improve on an imposed 2.9 per cent pay rise and negotiate on the future of the business.

An emergency motion at the annual conference of the Communication Workers' Union in Bournemouth will give Royal Mail four weeks to reopen pay negotiations or face a ballot for industrial action. The CWU represents 160,000 of Royal Mail's 200,000 workers