Dear LPG, 

Have you ever been part of a picket line, chanted a slogan demanding better wages or held a placard insisting on better working conditions?  In short, have you ever been involved in a strike? 

I know that the world of work could not be further from the minds of most pensioners, but we are all aware of what is happening around us.  We are less likely to be affected by them and it can be argued that we pensioners are the people that can change the dates of our appointments with the minimum of disruption to our lives, but they are still occurring.

Ours now have a lot to do with the public transport industry and even if we older people don’t go that far, recent news has reminded us that the workers are not happy.   It is often hard to come down on one side or the other when counting the cost of such action because while, by the time we get a year or two into retirement, our income is usually all sorted either positively or at least to the point where we have accepted our future financial lot, we can still see the devastating effects that they have on our children who depend on the commute to get to their work.

But even though Covid and lockdown have taught so many of our workers that working from home is a viable alternative to using transport when the services are restricted, I feel that it is a shame that the public should always be the ones to suffer.

I can remember a time when most of us lived and worked locally, and only ever ventured a few miles away when on holiday, but that is another aspect of life that has really changed. I have a friend whose son lives in Japan of all places, and he was telling us about an alternative way to strike that they tried over there.   

Apparently ’fair free’ days where the workers work but take no fairs are an experiment which has had a measure of success over there and in Australia plus a few other parts of the world.  I know that this will not work when it comes to the teaching, government, civil service and medical industries disputes but it might be an effective move when it comes to moving people around while making a point.  

I am no politician and there is bound to be a legal reason why not, but it is just a thought… 

BL, Crystal Palace 

BL found us a bit of information…

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