Madam, - A common thread in all the recent actual and threatened industrial action by the various unions involved in Aer Rianta, An Post, Dublin Bus and others is massive resistance to change in the face of impending competition.
As a regular customer of these companies, I find myself increasingly unsympathetic to their predicaments, particularly when none of the sides involved appear to have any compunction about putting the rest of the country over a barrel in order to sort out their particular grievances.
Ironically, the more strike action is threatened and taken, the clearer is the case for increased competition: if the withdrawal of services by a single company can cause serious economic damage to the country, the only logical solution is to dilute that company's position.
So, I look forward to a day when clean buses reliably rove our cities, my communications are carried by a multitude of postal companies (when e-mail isn't an option), and we have another commercial airport in our capital city to serve its burgeoning population.
In the meantime, could I remind the irresistible forces and the immovable objects involved in these disputes that while they may win whatever battles they are fighting today, tomorrow their battles will be to keep the customers they currently treat with such disdain. - Is mise,
NICK HILLIARD, De Courcey Square, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.