Do striking postal workers appreciate the consequences of delayed deliveries?

SIR – I was unlucky on Monday. I was hacked by fraudsters, which has resulted in my online banking being suspended.

I am 81 years old and housebound, and do all my shopping online, including a food order, but now I cannot do this until I receive a new bank card, which is held up by the postal workers’ strike.

I just wish that strikers knew of all the consequences of strike action, and how it affects other people.

M A Whalley
Southport, Lancashire

SIR– It is beyond galling to see four Royal Mail workers on the picket line outside the local post office, sitting there drinking coffee, as if this is some sort of jolly.

Normal people are suffering as a result of these selfish actions. Striking is something of a privilege, which causes misery to everyone else without this luxury.

Hannah Hunt
Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire

SIR– In the General Strike of 1926, many good people volunteered to help out – driving ambulances, for example – in order to keep things going.

Shouldn’t we be preparing to do the same during the discontent of this winter? Is there a leader who will organise it?

With today’s communications, it should be easier than it was in 1926.

George Everard
London SW1

SIR– Part of the reason Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng failed to implement their mini-Budget was their inability to communicate its content to the public.

The present Government has failed to learn the lesson. The railway union Aslef is promoting the “fact” that its dispute is about pay, when in fact the stumbling block to settlement hinges greatly on eliminating Spanish practices in the rail industry.

If the public were given examples of these in a relatable way, the Aslef argument would be weakened. For instance, if in an office environment it required four people to photocopy a document – one to load a sheet of paper, a second to switch on, a third to press the button and a fourth to retrieve the print – the public would soon turn against the union.

Michael Cattell
Mollington, Cheshire

SIR– Thank you very much for the handy strike calendar (“Strikes on every day until Christmas”, report, December 1).

I have affixed it to the kitchen cupboard next to the monthly refuse and recycling collection table. I am now able to see at a glance when not to catch a train or a bus, when not to post a letter, and when not to suddenly fall ill.

My only complaint is that the red and orange dots are difficult to distinguish so I may accidentally find myself forlornly waiting on the station platform when I should have been not posting a letter.

Lorimer Burn
Guildford, Surrey

SIR– As trade unions blight the country with strikes, why does the euphemism “industrial action” prevail?

It should surely be “industrial inaction”. “Strike” is more accurate and shorter, although not sweeter.

Tim Sykes
Winscombe, Somerset