Fears of a Christmas of chaos were tonight looming ever larger, with votes by ambulance workers, railway staff and Eurostar security officers to strike over pay and conditions.
The ballot results came as Royal Mail workers, university lecturers and sixth form college staff took to picket lines at scores of locations across the UK in one of the biggest days of industrial action of recent years.
As deliveries of letters and parcels were halted and delayed, Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson accused the Communication Workers Union of doing “everything they can to destroy Christmas”. But the CWU’s general secretary Dave Ward retorted that bosses were “risking a Christmas meltdown because of their stubborn refusal to treat their employees with respect”.
