ROYAL Mail workers in Boston staged a 24 hour walkout at the weekend as a national dispute over proposed changes to working conditions continues to escalate.

The staff based at the sorting office in South End went on strike from 3am on Saturday and further industrial action could follow.

The Communications Workers Union (CWU) called the walkout because it feels postal workers were facing "unprecedented" levels of attacks from management when staff needed to be supporting major changes.

Area delivery representative Adam Oakes said: "Royal Mail is continuing to refuse to reach national agreements.

"They are now forcing the local postmen and women to take on extra work that they simply have not got time to complete within the duty times."

The CWU is set to ballot 130,000 postal staff for a national strike over pay, jobs and service next month.

Deputy general secretary Dave Ward added: "Never before have postal workers experienced so many attacks from all sides.

"Whether it's pay, job security, workload or dignity and respect at work, our members are facing a beating on all aspects of their working lives.

"Pressure and stress are rising to breaking point. It won't be long before services are dramatically affected.

"Our members do not want to lose money or disrupt services by taking further strike action.

"However, while Royal Mail refuses to acknowledge the serious issues facing its own employees we feel there is no alternative but to press ahead with a national strike ballot.

"We will call off all strike action in return for meaningful negotiations on modernisation, pay and job security.

"As the recognised union this is the least Royal Mail should do.

"We are also encouraging the Government to honour its responsibility to the Royal Mail pension scheme by taking on the deficit and also addressing the ongoing problems of regulation which put Royal Mail in a disadvantaged position in the mail market."

A Royal Mail spokesman said: "We urge the union to call off its strikes and to join Royal Mail's drive to complete the modernisation of the business as we tackle the intensifying competition from electronic media and the impact of the recession on mail volumes, now falling at around 10 per cent a year.

"We cannot understand why the union is claiming to support modernisation when it's pursuing a policy of actively opposing the changes we need to make to ensure there's a successful future for the business, its people and its customers.

"Any changes we are making are fully in line with the existing agreement on modernisation."