In response to Sally Bell’s recent letter about strikers, having known a few they definitely do not think they’re special.

What they actually want is equality and fairness.

She has confused her agreement with her terms of contract with how others are actually being treated. Many teachers are not on vast pensions (often described as gold-plated in the rhetoric of Tory spin), many are facing job losses and pay freezes despite their bosses being awarded grand bonuses and pay rises (the executive of Southampton General being one example).

What the public has to understand is that this can and very well might happen to them.

We should really have learned from history how disadvantaged many pensioners have been and still are.

We should really have learned from history how previous Government administrations have destroyed job prospects in the UK, and how long it took for this country to recover.

These strikes may be a bee in many bonnets, but what choice do people have? Often their employers do not listen, and there is a sense of loss of control in many employment situations.

Mrs Bell mentions her mother working at age 12. Surely a woman such as her would appreciate why people want to protect not just their, but others’ employment from the erosion of rights that many of us have taken for granted?

Lastly there is a risk. The risk being that many types of job will be seen in future as insecure or a waste of effort. People will migrate to other forms of employment and we’ll suffer a lack of teachers again, or a lack of care service staff. What will we do then? Import more foreign job-seekers as has happened in the past five years..?

Everyone deserves fair pay, a fair pension, safe and comfortable work environments free from harassment/bullying, and everyone needs a secure job.

D J COOK, Southampton.