WE may be enjoying an Indian summer, but is another Winter of Discontent about to bear down on Oxfordshire?

First we have the postal workers and their ongoing dispute over pay and conditions with Royal Mail.

This one has been rolling on and on for years – and recent action has already seen the county develop a damaging backlog of mail.

Today the Oxford Mail reveals union leaders are considering a walkout over job cuts at Oxfordshire County Council.

Times are tough all over – but it would be a sorry situation if thousands of people who want to work feel they must picket to safeguard their jobs.

Readers who remember the original Winter of Discontent will recall the damage it did to the country – both in our own eyes and the rest of the world’s.

The onus is on union and business leaders to prevent such damaging action being repeated.

The key, as ever, is to keep talking.