April Fool's Day (April 1) has passed this year, but the wave of anger aimed at the Royal Mail postal company in the UK has not ended, originating from a disastrous joke related to the company's salary.
Sky News reported that on April 1, a branch of the Royal Mail postal company in Gloucester ( UK ) posted a poster announcing that the company had reached an agreement with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) on increasing wages by up to 11% for employees and offering many other benefits, including buying a new fleet of vehicles and recruiting 10,000 more employees.
The branch even encouraged staff to share the announcement on social media. Sure enough, the message then spread to other Royal Mail branches across the UK.
The story might not have gotten so far had it not been for the fact that the prank happened at a time when many Royal Mail workers were on strike over low pay and poor working conditions. After discovering that the Royal Mail Gloucester branch’s notice was an April Fool’s Day prank, they were furious. Many workers felt that the Gloucester branch manager was unprofessional and that no matter what day it was, it was inappropriate to joke about pay and benefits with workers.
On several forums, Royal Mail employees posted comments expressing outrage, and called for the manager behind the cruel prank to be fired. “There are some jokes that are weird but funny and don’t hurt anyone. But this is a terrible joke to people who are stuck with pay issues and mental health issues,” wrote a Royal Mail employee.
A Royal Mail spokesperson said the poster had now been removed and the company had apologised to staff. In a statement, Royal Mail said: “We apologise for any distress caused by a prank that went wrong at one of our branches. The poster has been removed and the branch manager has apologised.”
It is unclear how those involved feel when their prank is called by many netizens as the “worst April Fools’ Day hoax” this year.
NINH GIANG
no joke
QĐND - April Fools' Day (April 1) is a day when everyone has the right to lie and think of harmless jokes to tease others, adding humor and joy to life. But this April Fools' Day, lying could cause great trouble.
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