Union bosses have launched a renewed attack on the Government as crucial talks aimed at averting further postal strikes began.
Dave Ward, of the Communication Workers Union (CWU), said ministers could not continue "sitting on the sidelines" as negotiations continue in the deadlocked row over jobs, pay and modernisation.
Leaders of the CWU were meeting Royal Mail bosses after TUC general secretary Brendan Barber invited the two sides to hold talks.
Up to 120,000 workers are set to stage a fresh round of strikes from Thursday unless progress is made.
Mr Ward, before entering the latest discussions, said the dispute was "fundamentally" about jobs and workers' terms and conditions.
"The change that postal workers are facing is on a scale that's greater than any other UK industry at the present time and I think what we are going to do today is end that confusion about what this dispute is about," he said.
He said the issue of the Royal Mail's pension deficit - thought to total about £10 billion - needed to be resolved urgently.
"There's no prospect of us building a successful future for the Royal Mail and for the workforce unless the Government actually deal with that issue," he said.
"That's why we keep saying the Government can't keep sitting on the sidelines."
He added: "We will deal with the issues around the industrial side of the Royal Mail but there are things that the Government have to deal with. Unless we fund a solution to the pensions deficit very quickly then this company has no prospect of building a successful future."
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