Strike news – live: Postal workers lay off as UK prepares for week of transport chaos

National Council of Chiefs of Police turns down assistance due to current requests, writes Lizzie Dearden.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union at Network Rail and 14 train operators will go on strike for 48 hours, while members of the Transport Salary Staff Association (TSSA) on Avanti West Coast will go on strike for 48 hours.

Civil servants in the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union will go on strike for a month, with workers in different institutions and departments quitting on different days.

The first day includes DVSA driver examiners and staff at the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) customer service centre, whose strike will begin in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

RMT and TSSA train strikes will continue to affect services in the UK, Royal Mail workers will go out of business in another national strike, DVSA strike continues for staff in Scotland and Northern Ireland, RPA staff continue their strike.

Members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) will go on strike, bus workers with Abellio in London to stage another work stoppage, Royal Mail workers to strike again, DVSA strike for staff in Scotland and Northern Ireland continues, RPA staff go on strike it does.

RMT rail workers will hold another 48-hour national strike, the Union will also see members working as security guards at Eurostar hold a 24-hour strike, TSSA members working for Avanti West Coast will hold another 48-hour strike.

Ground handlers employed by private contractor Menzies at Heathrow Airport, which is a member of Unite, will not be able to walk for 72 hours as of 4am. Abellio bus workers in London are going on strike for 48 hours. The DVSA strike continues for staff in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

PCS road strikes will begin as National Highways workers march across the North West, North East and Yorkshire. RPA personnel continue their strike.

TSSA members working for C2c are going on strike, same-union Railroad workers in Avanti West Coast will continue their strike, DVSA strike continues for staff in Scotland and Northern Ireland, National Road workers continue their strike in North West, North East and Yorkshire .

The strike of the RMT railway workers continues. Unite ground guards at Heathrow continue their strike.

Unite ground handlers in Heathrow continue their strike, DVSA strikes for staff in Scotland and Northern Ireland continue as RMT members working as security guards at Eurostar organize another walkout.

Pat Cullen, secretary general of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), said it was “despicable” that UK nurses are “the lowest paid in Europe”.

He told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday: “One day’s action by nurses would not have created the 7.2 million people on our waiting lists, the NHS has been in crisis for many, many years and in what situation? If these nurses are not working the additional unpaid hours they do, they will be there.” is it?

“Nurses are not greedy people. They don’t want an incredible pay rise, they just want it to make ends meet.”

The government rejected a proposal by the nursing unions to suspend an unprecedented strike this week in exchange for salary talks with the health minister.

Secretary of State James Cleverly said Steve Barclay would be happy to discuss issues such as working conditions with the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) but argue that the ministers’ stance, not salaries, excludes “politics” from health care.

But shadow health secretary Wes Streeting said the government’s stance was “dangerous” and “irresponsible” and that ministers had turned down an offer that was “too good to refuse”.

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin reports.

Royal Mail workers staged a new strike today amid long-running disagreement over wages, jobs and conditions.

Members of the Communications Workers Union (CWU) are embroiled in an increasingly fierce debate that has led to a serious walkout.

More strikes will take place as Christmas approaches, and the union said it will cause a huge mail pile.

CWU general secretary Dave Ward said: “Royal Mail bosses are risking a Christmas meltdown because they stubbornly refuse to treat their employees with respect.

“Post workers want to serve their communities, distribute Christmas gifts, and take care of the backlog of recent weeks.

“But they know their worth, and they will not meekly accept the trivialization of their jobs, the destruction of their conditions, and the impoverishment of their families.

“This issue can be resolved if Royal Mail starts treating its workers with respect and talks to the union to resolve this dispute.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “CWU understands very well that we need to agree on changes to the way we operate to be able to fund our offer of up to 9% payouts in a business making more than £1 million a day losses. It has already been done.

“While CWU refuses to acknowledge the need for change, our suffering customers and people.”