Dear Mr Serwotka,

After reading in the Times today about the coordinated strikes planned for April/May 2011, I have been left with just one question: How stupid are you?

How do you expect to gain support for your movement when you insist on disrupting the lives of normal men and women on the streets – not to mention the lives of the idiots who will go out on strike in your name and lose a substantial amount of money in the process.

For me, your strikes do not represent a hindrance to my everyday existence; they merely serve as a reminder of why it is fools such as yourself and those that rally to your call should in fact find themselves out of work and shunned by society at large. Have you once stopped and asked yourself how those who work in the private sector have suffered throughout this recession? Have you even once considered what it must be like for those of us who don’t have a union to fall back on should we fail to get our way in even the simplest of disputes? No, I doubt it. You’re only interested in maximum publicity and maximum subscription fees (I’ll wager that your income and the incomes of oafs such as Prentis and Barber have continued to rise steadily over the last couple of years, while the mindless masses that you claim to represent have continued to toil for minimum salaries).

And then there’s the issue of the Royal Wedding. You claim that these actions have not been planned with the specific intention of disrupting what for many in this land would be a joyous and hope-filled occasion. Liar. You yourself state that there’s no better time to attempt to embarrass the government than when the world’s eyes are on London. Fool. You will only succeed in embarrassing yourself, by showing yourself to be the rabble-rouser that you are. How much camera time do you reckon a bunch of picket line activists are going to get once Kate Middleton steps out of her carriage in her bridal gown? Like I said, you’re an idiot.

I suppose, when it comes down to it, you’re hoping that good ol’ Ed over at Labour HQ will support these actions. Perhaps he feels obligated to show up as the poster boy of the unions; after all, it was you guys who installed him as boss of the opposition. But remember this: the people of this country know that it was his party that reduced our great nation to its current economic state. You can harangue the present government as much as you like. You can scream about the injustice of cuts from the roof tops. But it won’t change the basic truth at the heart of this matter: the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are simply cleaning up the mess left by Labour, and nobody ever said it would be easy.

So, have an enjoyable Easter, Mr Serwotka; I’m sure you’ve earned your fat cat salary for the year simply by suggesting these actions. Bravo. Let’s see if the average union member feels as heartened by June/July of 2011.

Your sincerely,

Alex Samson (worker, tax payer, non-union member)