Union strikes can only hamper the reforms needed on the rail network
SIR – I have major concerns about the rail strikes precisely because I am a blue-collar trade unionist.
We need more staff on the railways. A visible staff presence is vital for reassuring lone passengers. Striking can only jeopardise such a positive agenda.
Mick Lynch, the secretary-general of the union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT), would be on infinitely stronger ground were he to press the Government on the imperative of major capital investment in rail infrastructure. His members would win. The country would win. John Barstow
Pulborough, West Sussex
SIR – The leaders of the RMT should study closely the picture of Arthur Scargill (June 22), the former miners’ union president, on the picket line on Tuesday.
Maybe it will remind them of what he and the National Union of Mineworkers did for coalmining. They should also recall what demarcation did for the docks and shipbuilding, compared to the success of industries where multiskilling is now prevalent. A O H Lewis
Peterborough
SIR – When it comes to the introduction of new technology and unions’ opposition to it, history is not on the side of the rail workers.
In the car industry back in the 1970s, the spot welder would carry the machine as a backpack; now robots do this and many other vehicle assembly tasks. Also in the 1970s, truckers vowed never to have tachographs (devices that monitor vehicles’ speed and driving time) and dockers fought the introduction of containerisation. In the 1980s, printers opposed the introduction of new technology in the form of desktop publishing.
Unions representing workers in the above industries were among the strongest in Britain, yet all failed to turn the tide of new technology. Michael Porteous
Windsor, Berkshire SIR – If rail unions wish to retain mid-20th century working practices, perhaps they would like to receive mid-20th century pay and conditions. Adam Massingham
Ashford, Kent
SIR – As a former railwayman and still a regular commuter by train, I see both sides of the argument in the current dispute.
Once again, there are calls for driverless trains (Letters, June 22). This is technically feasible but cannot be achieved overnight. Train drivers are not actually in the front line in this particular strike. Most belong to Aslef. RMT members are all the other rail workers, of whom signalling staff are the most vital and whose absence from duty is the principal cause of the inability to operate the railway. Modernisation of signalling systems has been going on for decades throughout the network, but it is expensive and takes time to carry out. Peter Clark