Justin Walden (Stop Striking, Oxford Mail letters, September 10) complains that postal workers should not go on strike and says that “there are hundreds and hundreds of people on the dole, looking for work, who would work in any conditions and possibly for any wage”.

He should be aware that this attitude is part of the problem, and the reason why many of us postal workers feel that the executive of Royal Mail feels free to make unreasonable demands on its staff.

I work on delivery in the Chipping Norton area. We are not a militant bunch (we don’t even have a union rep at our office) and have never been on strike during my years there. But sympathy for the strikers is growing because of the way we are being treated.

Although total mail volume is falling because of email and the recession, our bosses are increasing our workload by relentlessly ‘collapsing’ town rounds and adding stretches of these rounds to the remaining rural deliveries.

Initially we are told this is a temporary measure, part of “summer savings”, but – surprise, surprise – the additional delivery points soon become permanent parts of our duties.

The traditional appeal of a postie’s job is an early start and finish, and most of us don’t claim overtime for going a little over our scheduled time. But now it is not uncommon for us to be working an hour or two extra and the afternoon is gone.

Mr Walden says that we are not forced to work overtime, but there are many posties who can testify to the serious consequences that can follow if one fails to deliver all the mail on your duty.

Some managers do understand the time pressure aspect of the job, but I’m afraid some do resort to bullying.

Our chief executive Adam Crozier appeared on Channel 4 News a while ago to announce that we posties were overpaid, but was less forthcoming when asked how much he earned in salary and bonuses!

At a time when socialism seems to mean subsidising bankers and the super-rich, I find it ironic that people like me can be accused of “holding the country to ransom” when I earn less than £300 per week.

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