I probably would if I had been brought up to believe, or had come to believe, that my job is my "right" and that it is owed to me regardless of my behaviour, the profitability of the company, and whether my services are needed or not.

And that is the mentality at Royal Mail.

If there's one thing worse than a nationalised industry, it's an ex-nationalised private company. When it comes to having no clue, they're even worse than government.

Honestly, what is the point of the continued existence of trades unions these days? They were formed during a bygone age where exploitation was rife and there were no laws to protect workers' interests. But these days, I would have thought that employees are protected well enough by all the EU legislation that's been forced on us (minimum wage, maximum working hours, maternity leave, paternity leave, transgender cohabitation leave, etc). Employers can hardly move for red tape.
The word "union" to me is synonymous with images of Peter Sellers in "I'm Alright Jack" (a brilliantly funny and totally on the mark film, if you've never seen it, you must do so!) or of Arthur Scargill. Most of the union leaders are 'George Galloway type' diehard communists, and hypocrites at that, living in spendour from the membership fees while the ordinary members scrape a living and follow their leaders like sheep. Thatcher didn't go far enough in my opinion; she ought to have outlawed them all and consigned unions to the dustbin of history.

That's a bit odd; I used to work for the USPS and unless things have changed there since then that place is a byword for treating people like crap. They used to browbeat people, even union members that had worked for the PO for years, like they were little kids who needed a spanking when I worked at the local sorting facility. There's a reason why the American English slang term for going crazy and killing large numbers of people is "going postal" ; I'm just surprised more people dont pull a gun and start shooting; it's not like there's a shortage of guns and ammo here.