Reconsider strikes before the London Marathon

sir – I am appalled that train drivers will strike on October 1, the day before the London Marathon. The strike will affect thousands of people who have spent months training so they can raise money for worthy charities, and their loved ones who wish t™o cheer them on as they take on the momentous task.

I hope they will reconsider this date, as I will have no sympathy for them. Suzie Gordon

Teddington, Middlesex

sir – So railway workers respect our late monarch but not the customers they serve – as proved by their resuming strike action. Perhaps they should look again at the dedication of Queen Elizabeth and reconsider. Paul Marsh

Glossop, Derbyshire

sir – Frances O’grady, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress, claims that the right to strike is a fundamental British liberty.

Not so: it is an innovation arising out of legislation in 1871. Then, working conditions were utterly different: employers held a whip hand over their workers. In current conditions, it seems wrong that one group should aim, without penalty, to better itself by imposing hardship on others.

David Birt

Stanford Bridge, Worcestershire

sir – Many unions are demanding pay increases equal to or near the rate of inflation. This will create even more inflation by pushing up prices. It is no time to destabilise the economy – but unions wish to politicise the situation and bring down the Government.

World events dictate that we exercise restraint. Queen Elizabeth’s death brought the country together, but the unions want division and chaos without realising the consequences for us all of their irresponsible and unnecessary militant action.

Many workers and small businesses in the private sector will not see pay increases anywhere near inflationary levels. Shame on the more militant unions at this time.

Christopher Hunt

Swanley, Kent