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The unions must tread carefully – too many strikes and they’re out

Columnist Juliet Samuel says that the RMT’s claim that the Southern dispute is about safety is worth scrutinising. “It sounds rather frightening at face value. Something bad could happen, the RMT is warning. It’s a life-and-death question! Right? Wrong. This is simply the latest case of cynical union scaremongering.” Samuel explains that what GTR is proposing is hardly revolutionary or dangerous. She makes a good point about the numbers too – with 306 train conductors voting to strike, that means “the right of each striking conductor to press a button was worth messing up the journeys of 1,000 people”.

  • We've read it in: The Telegraph, August 11 2016, p14