FOR some militant union leaders it would appear there is no better time to call a strike than in a time of recession, especially when lounging in your deckchair sunning oneself with all expenses paid through union contributions.

With few exceptions, bully-boy tactics achieve nothing. Only negotiation, without resorting to blackmail, by an informed responsible leader elected by an open ballot and not a block vote, will once again bring credibility to any union. Victorian working conditions no longer apply.

However, recent years have seen union leaders take over the mantle of master and slave with the cry of: “Don’t do as I do, do as I say – otherwise you will be ostracised.”

A 48-hour protest achieves nothing. Time would be better spent working alongside your fellow workers on the front line, collating facts – and not spouting fiction at a round table.

Kenneth Bowker, Vesper Walk, Huntington, York.