Royal Mail staff vote to strike as share price soars after super IPO

ROYAL Mail workers have voted to strike, a week after UK's postal service's initial public offering, which was seven times oversubscribed with more than 700,000 investors applying for shares in the state-owned postal company.

The walkout will take place on November 4 unless a deal safeguarding employment is reached, according to a statement issued by the Communications Workers Union (CWU), reports Bloomberg.

Sixty-three per cent of the 112,000 Royal Mail workers turned out for the vote in which 78 per cent of the respondents voting in favour of a walkout.

"Postal workers care about jobs, terms and conditions more than they care about shares," said CWU deputy general secretary David Ward. "Postal workers will not pay for the profits of private operators and faceless shareholders."

Royal Mail shares were sold to investors at GBP3.30 (US$5.20) and have climbed 44 per cent to about GBP4.73 since it started trading on the London Stock Exchange on October 15.

The government sold 52.2 per cent of the Royal Mail in the biggest privatisation since British Rail was sold in the 1990s, with a further 7.8 per cent likely to be offered in the coming weeks depending on demand.