Royal Mail Share Price Loses Gains As Unite Opposes Layoff Plan

Summary:

The Royal Mail share price is down after Unite says it will oppose the layoff of 700 management-level workers.

The Royal Mail share price is trading slightly higher on the day but is barely hanging on to gains as late selling has hit the stock. The situation with the Royal Mail share price has evolved rapidly on Tuesday after it emerged that the company is set to cut 700 jobs to cut costs.

Royal Mail already lost 15,000 staff to COVID-19-induced sick leave in early January and has decided to lay off 700 management-level jobs in a bid to save £40 million a year amid mind-boggling mail delivery delays brought on by the Omicron variant.

However, the decision has not gone down well with the labour unions. Unite said it would fight Royal Mail’s layoff plan, especially after its shareholders received dividend payments totalling £400 million.

The Royal Mail share price is up 1.42% as of writing.

The early gains made by the stock have dissipated, putting the 442.9 support under threat. A successful breakdown of this area opens the door for the bears to push towards the 431.2 support.

On the flip side, a bounce off 442.9 may allow for a reprieve from the 5-day decline, targeting 452.6 initially before 471.3 enters the picture as a new target to the north. 490.7 is an ambitious resistance barrier at current price levels and only becomes viable if there is sufficient recovery.