Regarding the Royal Mail strikes, I asked some people from the general public how these strikes are affecting them. Mr Pon Siva, a Postmaster, explained how these strikes have significantly reduced the number of customers coming to post every day as well as having huge numbers of parcels not being collected for even just a day, leading to a chaotic workplace. He also explained how numerous customers had urgent parcels to post and needed them to be delivered the next day but sadly there was nothing he could do about it. 

One Postman also kindly provided insight into how he was affected by the strikes. He said,

''Each day there is a strike, I lose around £100, which is around a fifth of my weekly earnings.''

He also explained one of the reasons why the strikes are taking place. He told me that many Royal Mail branches were planning to make those with the morning shift, who originally started work at 7am, to come in to work at 10am intstead, meaning that their work shift would finish at around 5:30pm. This time is not ideal for many workers as many are parents and have to pick their children up from school and 5:30pm is a difficult time for them to manage as previously their work shifts would have ended at around 2:30pm which was perfect for them to do manage everything they had to do after their shifts had finished. Many have even considered quitting their jobs because of this.

Not everyone has been impacted by the Royal Mail strikes, though. Many people have chosen to use other postal services instead of Royal Mail, including Parcelforce and deliveries from private businesses like Amazon. Also, not everyone needs to post frequently and instead relies on the mail only for things like bills and taxes. Even then, people have automated payment methods like Direct Debit set up, and with online usage being more prominent these days than they did a few years ago, the Royal Mail strikes have not had as much of a negative impact on the general public.