A Union Revival Waiting in the Wings? ; City Comment

Summary

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WE ARE all prisoners of our own experience. People who did not work through the early 1990s could not believe there could be a recession and falling house prices. People who did not work through the 1980s do not believe we could face another outbreak of inflation. People who did not work through the 1970s cannot accept the possibility of a revival of trade union power.

It is this last point which is particularly relevant today. The threat of a national postal strike has been greeted with incredulity in most of the media -- if only because the Royal Mail's PR machine is one of the most efficient parts of the organisation. And it may be that the tone of the coverage is correct and that the union is committing suicide -- as did the miners under Arthur Scargill a generation ago. But equally the postal workers' calculation could be similar -- if they do nothing, they are doomed to death by a thousand cuts as they struggle to cope with technologies that make obsolete the essence of what they do. So why should they not have one last battle to see if they can turn the tide? It will give them some self-respect if nothing else.

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Extract

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A Union Revival Waiting in the Wings? ; City Comment

It is hard to see how the Royal Mail strikers can win because we can get by without the service. Indeed, we survived a two-month postal strike in the 1970s, so we would barely notice now. But it would be a mistake ...

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