A SOUTH Scotland MSP has accused the Royal Mail of "bullying".

Labour MSP Colin Smyth slammed postal service bosses after the company announced it will seek to make 6,000 redundancies across the UK by next year.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) said on Thursday that its members would take part in 19 days of strikes in the run-up to Christmas, as they seek better pay and conditions.

They accuse Royal Mail of planning structural changes which would turn long-term employees into a "casualised, financially precarious workforce overnight", as well as cutting sick pay and providing poorer terms for new workers.

The local MSP said: “The threat of these redundancies is a blatant attempt from Royal Mail bosses to bully workers with job cuts but the only people who should be out of a job are senior bosses at the firm for their mismanagement.

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“They have turned a profit into a loss in just a few months and any other business would be removing those at the top for incompetence.

“Royal Mail have a huge competitive advantage and it takes a certain level of incompetence to have crashed this company in such a short period of time.

“Workers deserve better, none of them want to strike but they’ve been backed into a corner.

"With rail workers, posties and BT Openreach staff currently striking, teachers and nurses holding a ballot which I am sure will show a resounding yes in favour of action, workers at every level feel as if they are under attack and their pay and conditions are being undermined.

“I have never known such anger yet time and time again bosses are offering workers a pay cut rather than fair pay.”