The list of industrial disputes in Britain this summer continues to lengthen.
Following on from major problems on the railways recently, it emerged yesterday that Royal Mail could soon have double trouble on its hands.
The company could face strike action after managers voted to walk out over job cuts. Some 2,400 managers working across 1,000 UK delivery offices voted by 86% to strike, said the Unite union.
This came a day after more than 115,000 Royal Mail staff from the Communication Workers Union (CWU) began voting over whether to go on strike over pay.
Royal Mail said there were "no grounds" for a strike by Unite members and that claims about additional job losses were "not true".
It said the Unite ballot covered about a third of its 6,000 managers and there were contingency plans "to keep letters and parcels moving in the event of a strike".
Unite said the dates of proposed strikes would be announced in the coming days.
Meanwhile, the result of the vote organised by the CWU is expected on July 19 and could amount to the biggest-ever strike by its members.
Unite warned delivery chaos was "inevitable" unless Royal Mail executives returned to the negotiating table.
It said talks had centred on a planned cut of 542 frontline delivery managers alongside a restructure that it believed would introduce worse terms and conditions for workers.
Unite said executives at Royal Mail refused to back down over redundancies, causing negotiations to collapse.
"It is no surprise at all that these workers have voted overwhelmingly for industrial action," said Sharon Graham, Unite's general secretary.
"Make no mistake, Royal Mail is awash with cash - there is no need whatsoever to sack workers, drive down pay or pursue this ill-thought-out redeployment programme."
Royal Mail said that Unite's claims about additional job losses were "not true" and that it had closed 700 managerial roles through voluntary redundancy and redeployment.
"We have no further job reductions planned," it told the BBC. "The reorganisation has been in place and operational since May 23.
"We allowed managers to request voluntary redundancy with a package of up to two years' salary, which was over-subscribed," it added.