Friday 19 March 2010

Albert Owen thinks we should all stay at home for Easter

 
Sorry for the long hiatus - the Druid has been travelling again and was unable to get to his keyboard.

Ironically the subject of this post is also about travel - or rather the lack of it. Anglesey's MP Albert Owen thinks that island residents shouldn't be permitted to travel, to visit family for example, on the coming Easter weekend - or certainly not by rail at any rate. He is one of 123 Labour MPs to have today signed an Early Day Motion supporting RMT's planned strike action.

And he's not alone other North Wales MPs including Labour's Betty Williams and Plaid Cymru's Elfyn Llwyd and Hywel Williams have also signed.

Needless to say remote areas like Anglesey and North Wales depend economically on an efficient and dependable transport infrastructure much more than other regions. There is no point in companies investing in building new factories in places like Anglesey if they cannot then efficiently transport the manufactured goods to wherever they will be sold. Strikes like those being pursued by the RMT are exactly the kind of thing we don't need and Albert Owen should explain to Anglesey residents why he thinks they are a good idea.
  

8 comments:

La Pasionaria said...

Tell us why the RMT are striking? You are very goods at giving one side of the argument Toryboy!

Paul Williams said...

This isn't a RMT blog - its a blog about Anglesey, La Pasionaria. Hence its one-sidedness.

La Pasionaria said...

That's what you might want it to be but in fact its a pro Tory anti Labour anti Plaid blog. Were you inspired by Fox's "Fair and Balanced" description of their news channel?

Paul Williams said...

Actually its a anti-stupidity blog.

La Pasionaria said...

Oh dear are we into censoring now, one quick jump from Conservatism to fascism!

Paul Williams said...

Censoring what?

Fascism? Ever heard of Godwin's Law, La Pasionaria?

John Vooght said...

Fine to criticise a strike. Far harder to answer the question: in the event that workers are unhappy with their terms of employment, what other meaningful and lawful way do they have at their disposal to protest? Posts like this latest one seem to suggest that workers actually enjoy strikes - and the loss of pay they impose.

Employment is a skewed equation, biased in favour of the employer. Unions help balance that equation. All Labour have done in exchange for Lord-knows how many millions of Union money, though, is give us workers the 'right' to ask if we can have this-and-that time off for certain things. Your boss has an equal and opposite right to say 'get lost'.

Paul Williams said...

John: If workers are unhappy with their terms of employment they have every right to protest to management and, as you say, management has every right to tell them to 'get lost'. What angers me is that strikes are specifically timed to create the greatest inconvenience for the general public (who are blameless in the dispute) hence the plan for BA to strike last Xmas and now Easter, ditto the RMT at Easter time.