Andrea Leadsom, Conservative MP for South Northamptonshire and former business secretary, called on ministers and union chiefs to get round negotiating tables and avert the strikes before they caused chaos for millions of households.
She said: “The burden on working people from the rising cost of living is incredibly tough, but strike action that will cause misery to millions and put even more pressure on services is not the way out of this.
“The Government and unions need to work together to find a compromise that keeps services running.”
On Thursday, bus workers will walk out in London. It is also the second day of a 48-hour strike by 115,000 Royal Mail staff.
Dave Ward, the general secretary of the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU), which is responsible for 115,000 postal workers, said on the picket line that strikes would continue until Christmas 2023 unless the privatised company’s board backed down.
The CWU is planning more industrial action on Dec 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24, leading to Royal Mail bosses warning that presents may not be delivered on time for Christmas Day and urging customers to put them in the post early.
Among the other strikes across the rest of the month, G4S cash handlers are set to walk out, raising the prospect of currency shortages at banks and supermarkets, Scottish teachers will take industrial action and there will be further bus strikes in London.
On the railways, 40,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport workers union (RMT) will strike, prompting national shutdowns on Dec 13, 14, 16 and 17, and Jan 3, 4, 6 and 7.
Separately, RMT Eurostar will walk out for four days of strike action disrupting Christmas holidays. Nurses are to strike on Dec 15 and 20.
On Wednesday Mr Sunak said demands for a 19pc pay rise were “simply unreasonable and unaffordable”. NHS Providers warned that Trusts were “rightly worried about the potential for coordinated and prolonged industrial action in the coming months”.
Government sources insisted that officials were engaging with public sector union leaders to avoid planned strikes going ahead.
Meanwhile, mandarins are “closely monitoring” private sector disputes such as that at Royal Mail.
Small businesses, which Mr Sunak referred to as the “backbone of our economy” during his time as chancellor, are likely to be hit hardest by strikes.
Tina McKenzie, policy and advocacy chair of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), said: “Small businesses are already in the middle of a cost of doing business crisis, coming up against surging energy costs, rampant inflation, high taxes, and consumers cutting back.
“Disruptions to transport networks and delivery and retail services add to the burden of small firms.
“These strikes, now impacting the festive season, undermine the recovery of our tourism and hospitality sectors, which are dominated by small firms and were hit hardest by Covid.
A spokesman for the Government said: “[We] have repeatedly called for unions and employers to keep talking and come to an agreement, rather than take pre-emptive industrial action.
“We recognise that these are challenging economic times but pay settlements must be affordable and fair for both workers and taxpayers.”
