Some of the biggest looming strike action was called off after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Unions representing Royal Mail postal and railway workers said they had decided “out of respect for their service to the country and their families” to call off immediate strike action.
Queen Elizabeth II, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, died at Balmoral aged 96 after reigning for 70 years.
Concerns about her health grew on Thursday.
In response to the announcement, planned postal workers’ strikes on Friday 9 September and RMT rail workers’ strikes on 15 and 17 September were suspended.
The train drivers’ union Aslef also postponed the strike planned for September 15.
Rail Delivery Group said train schedules are normal now that no strikes are taking place.
A Rail Delivery Group spokesman said he welcomed the RMT’s decision to call off strike action next week at a time of “national mourning”.
“The entire railway family is united to offer our condolences to the Royal Family,” the spokesman said.
- Queen Elizabeth II has died
- The unions propose coordinated strikes for this autumn
A number of workers, including Openreach engineers, BT call center workers, railway workers and lawyers, have stepped out of pay disputes in recent weeks as wages fall further behind soaring inflation of around 10%.
Employees from the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents postal workers, were the last to leave on Thursday. But the union called off the strike action on Friday this week after news of the Queen’s death was announced.
CWU General Secretary Dave Ward said: “Following the very sad news of the death of the Queen and out of respect for her service to the country and her family, the union has decided to cancel the proposed strike action for tomorrow.”
RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch said his union was joining “the whole nation in paying their respects to Queen Elizabeth”.
“We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends and country,” he added.
Train drivers’ union Aslef said: “In the wake of the sad news of the death of Queen Elizabeth II, ASLEF is postponing its industrial action on September 15th. We extend our deepest condolences to her family, friends and the country.”
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