HUDDERSFIELD postal workers are set to vote on industrial action over pay.
About 180 members of the communication workers' union (UCW) based in Huddersfield will be among 160,000 members receiving ballot papers next week.
A vote in favour of industrial action could cripple mail collections and deliveries from the middle of next month.
The move follows a breakdown in talks between the UCW and Royal Mail.
The company said it had offered a deal worth 14.5% this year. But the union insists the offer involves only a 4.5% increase in cash over the next 18 months.
John Tracey, UCW spokesman based in Bradford, said: "Feelings are running very high. We will be holding meetings at Huddersfield, Bradford and Halifax next week and we expect big turnouts."
He said members felt betrayed by Royal Mail after accepting changes to work practices which had helped the company cut losses running at £1.5m a day.
UCW deputy general secretary Dave Ward said the union was also resisting calls to axe 30,000 jobs.
He said: "We have never accepted the need for 30,000 job losses. We will not sign up to `slash and burn' restructuring."
The Royal Mail has urged the union to agree to formal mediation to try to resolve the row and avert the first national postal strike in seven years.
Chief executive Adam Crozier said he was aiming to ensure that postal workers' pay reached £300 a week.
