Royal Mail managers strike threat

Thousands of Royal Mail managers could be balloted for strikes in a dramatic escalation of the industrial unrest currently hitting the postal organisation.

Unite said its 12,000 members working as managers in the postal service could soon vote on whether to take industrial action in a row over pensions.

The Royal Mail is already embroiled in a bitter dispute with the Communication Workers Union which has called two 48-hour strikes next month in a long running dispute over pay and jobs.

Unite described a possible proposal over pensions as "the great mail robbery" which it claimed could reap the Royal Mail £1.5 billion.