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Royal Mail bosses have been forced to apologise after a manager announced a huge pay rise for ‘stressed-out’ striking staff – only for them to realise it’s a ‘horrible April Fools’ prank’. The letter claims Royal Mail and the Communication Worker’s Union (CWU) have ‘reached an agreement’ after months of strikes over pay.
It details a breakthrough pay rise of 11 per cent, backdated to April 2022, to be paid on April 4 and boasts about staff being allowed to use their own cars for deliveries. The poster, which is believed to have been put up at Royal Mail Gloucester North, even encourages staff to share it on social media and with colleagues who are part of the CWU.
However, a furious member of staff shared the poster after realising it was just an ‘April Fools’ Day joke’ and she won’t be getting a pay rise. The CWU condemned the prank as ‘nasty’ and ‘tone deaf’.
The letter was sent just days after reports claimed the CWU were preparing to announce new strike dates as they were unable to reach an agreement with Royal Mail over workers’ pay. Another joke included in the note claims a ‘recruitment campaign’ to hire 10,000 ‘telegram boys’ is being launched today [April 3] – despite news 10,000 jobs are expected to be cut at the postal giants by August.
Fellow Royal Mail workers on social media flocked to brand the manager who wrote it a ‘horrible human being’ who ‘should be ashamed’ and some even called for him to be sacked. They claimed the joke is ‘unprofessional’ as their pay situation is ‘not a laughing matter’ and is putting the staff ‘under stress’.
But some staff claimed those who thought it was true in the first place should ‘give their heads a wobble’ as it’s ‘unbelievable’ and ‘just banter’. Royal Mail has since apologised for ‘any upset caused’ by the ‘misjudged’ joke and confirmed the poster has been ‘removed’ and the manager has apologised.
(Image: Kennedy News and Media)
A Royal Mail spokesperson said “We apologise for any upset caused by this misjudged April Fools’ joke at one of our delivery offices. The poster was removed and the local manager has apologised.”
A Communication Workers Union spokesperson said: “For many Royal Mail employees, the workplace is now a completely toxic environment where nasty, tone-deaf ‘jokes’ such as these are considered culturally acceptable.”
