LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Managers at Royal Mail Group will be balloted on industrial action for the first time since 1979 over job losses, the Unite union said on Monday.
Unite, which represents managers at Royal Mail Group, is preparing to ballot 8,535 members working across Royal Mail, Parcelforce and Post Office Limited over the threat of compulsory redundancies.
The union said about 1,500 jobs are set to go, mainly managers working in support functions at Royal Mail Group's head offices in London.
"Unite will not allow managers to be forced out because of the poor decisions made at the very top of Royal Mail Group," Paul Reuter, national officer for Unite, said in a statement.
The ballot is due to start at the beginning of November.
Postal workers at state-owned Royal Mail ended a long-running dispute over jobs, pay and modernisation last April.
The government plans to sell off up to 90 percent of the letters delivery business, with the remaining stake reserved for Royal Mail's staff.
(Writing by Avril Ormsby; Editing by Gunna Dickson)