When no one’s laughing at an April Fools’ joke, the reaction may be awkward at best and chaos at worst.
Royal Mail bosses issued a public apology after a mean-spirited April Fools’ Day prank where staff were informed by a manager they would receive an increase in pay. When the disappointed employees learned about the prank, they weren’t laughing — they fought back with a protest.
Employees were initially excited when they received a letter from the Royal Mail and the Communication Worker’s Union (CWU) stating it had reached a settlement after a battle regarding the working conditions.
The letter indicated the workers will be entitled to a pay rise of 11 percent, backdated to April 2022. There would also be a recruitment campaign to hire 10,000 telegram boys even though there was news circulating that 10,000 jobs will be cut by August.
A company spokesperson’s words didn’t land well when they said: “We apologize for any upset caused by this misjudged April Fool’s joke at one of our delivery offices. The poster was removed and the local manager has apologized.”
For the families struggling to make ends meet, this joke didn’t send them goofy grins. A furious employee yelled: “It isn’t a f***ing joke, it’s people’s livelihoods. that manager should be f***ing sacked. I don’t think it’s a laughing matter. DO YOU?”
A Communication Workers Union spokesperson added: “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.”
This letter arrived in poor timing just before the union was preparing strike action for having failed to reach a deal with Royal Mail. The letter fanned the flames with the unprofessional statement.
Another worker wrote: “We ain’t that lucky and there’s only one fool and that’s the manager for even thinking he’s being funny. Should be ashamed of himself.”
It’s not a pleasant outlook for the postal company with over 100,000 postal workers involved in the dispute over pay, which has been running for almost a year. Royal Mail claims “the strikes have cost them £200 million in lost business and covering staff. And it is losing £1 million a day — with a total loss of as much as £450 million for the last financial year.”
Even though the stakes for a resolution were high, a bright manager rocked the boat with a poorly executed prank.