Royal Mail has apologised for a ‘tone deaf’ joke that was launched on April Fools' Day.
BBC News reported that the postal service company issued an apology on behalf of one of its branches after its Gloucester North delivery office displayed a sign promising workers an 11 per cent pay rise.
The prank notice said an agreement had been reached with the union and also promised to purchase new vans and bicycles for staff.
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They added they would employ 10,000 more workers.
However, a spokesperson for Royal Mail said: "The poster was removed, and the local manager has apologised."
They added: "We apologise for any upset caused by this misjudged April Fools' joke at one of our delivery offices."
According to 9News, the Communication Workers' Union slammed the prank as ‘nasty’ and ‘tone-deaf’.
"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," they said.
The prank unfolded amid the long-running dispute against Royal Mail over the pay and conditions for its workers.
Around 115,000 postal workers went on strike in August since the company was privatised over a decade ago.
As a result, Royal Mail was forced to rely on a skeleton crew who could only ship out ‘essential items’, including prescribed medicines, Covid-19 test kits and special delivery packages.
The union representing the workers said they demanded a pay rise more appropriate for today's inflation rate.
They said that Royal Mail had rejected their plea of a pay rise offer ‘worth up to 5.5 per cent’ after three months of talks, as per BBC News.
One postal worker by the name of Hannah Carrol, who was part of the strike in East London, told the outlet that she wanted a pay rise that would help her survive the current economic climate.
"The price of everything's going up, people are having to do more and more overtime," she said.
The Guardian reported that Dave Ward, the union’s general secretary, said of the strike: “British people have had enough of their country being asset-stripped by the rich. It’s time to bring the postal service back into public ownership.”
He added: “Right now in this country, corporate failure gets rewarded time and time again, with no consequences for the poor running of services people rely on."
Charisa Bossinakis