Royal Mail is planning to sack about 542 managers and redeploy their workers. Therefore, Royal Mail staff have overwhelmingly voted in favor of strike. They have voted to conduct strike at 1,000 delivery centers across the United Kingdom.

Vote in favor of strike at 1,000 locations

The worker union Unite said that about 2,400 managers working across 1,000 delivery offices voted by 86% to strike. Moreover, 115,000 Royal Mail staff from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) began voting over whether to go on strike over pay. Unite have blamed the management at Royal Mail who are looking to lay-off 542 frontline delivery managers. The union is terming it as “boardroom greed”. Unite has claimed that they will announce the strike dates in the coming days. However, they are also willing to return to negotiations in order to avoid probable disruption in operations.

Unite’s Stance

“It is no surprise at all that these workers have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action. Make no mistake, Royal Mail is awash with cash – there is no need whatsoever to sack workers, drive down pay or pursue this ill-thought-out redeployment program. These plans are all about boardroom greed and profiteering and nothing whatsoever to do with securing this vital public service. Our Royal Mail members are guaranteed Unite’s 100% support in any industrial action they take this summer to get the company off this ruinous path.” Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said in a statement.

Royal Mail’s stance

On the other hand, Royal Mail claims that basis for strikes have no grounds. Furthermore, they have also negated the union’s claim of additional jobs losses and stated that this is not true. “We are disappointed by the announcement that Unite members have voted in favor of both industrial action and industrial action short of a strike, also known as work to rule. Throughout the ballot process, Unite head office has misled members about additional job losses. This is not true. Unite has ignored our request to correct these claims.” A Royal Mail spokesperson said in a statement.

Unite claims that the workers are handling extra workload to ensure smooth operations. Therefore, Unite members who work for Royal Mail regularly go without lunch and proper time off at weekends. Moreover, the employees worked tirelessly to ensure timely delivery and collection of mail .

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