This morning’s letters turn attention to strikes, praise for a Courier photographer, nurses’ parking fines, pylons, our immunity to bugs and energy subsidies.
Strikes merely lead to loss of jobs
Sir,-Having reached a stage in life where I seldom use air or rail travel, you might think I’d have little interest in the current strikes and threats of strike in both forms of transport.
Not true. Too well do I remember going from war-time when strikes almost never happened because it was looked on as treason to the mad years when union leaders seemingly tried to outdo one another in calling out their members for reasons that ranged from frivolous to unbelievable no matter how much they claimed justification.
As a result, we have legions of people who lost their jobs and, for instance, a minimal coal industry and a similar British car industry.
What else is memorable is that I cannot remember a strike leader losing his job, and few workers benefited from manning the barriers.
There was a time when people were disgracefully under-paid for doing their jobs but surely not now.
I hope things sort themselves out in the current situation and hopefully we are not heading back into a state of affairs where not only the public suffer but, in the aftermath, those actually striking find it was not worth the bother they caused.
Ian Wheeler.Springfield,Cupar.
Chilly image’s warming effect
Sir,-There were an awful lot of grumpy letters in this column on Thursday, so here is one that isn’t.
Congratulations to your staff photographer Kim Cessford for his stunning front-page image of crashing waves at Arbroath harbour.
It made me very glad to be sitting at home in the warm.
Stan Paget.16 Tayside Street,Carnoustie.
Dedicated staff being punished
Sir,-The Courier is to be applauded for bringing the nurses’ parking ticket situation at PRI to public attention and then forcing a resolution.
As anyone who works shifts, particularly in the emergency services, will know, it is often the case that shift handovers/briefings and, of course, unplanned events mean it is not always possible to simply walk out the door.
The public would not expect hospital staff to adopt such a casual attitude.
When commencing a late shift there are, of course, the very real problems of having to find a parking space.
Many years ago, when my wife was in protracted labour with our first child at PRI, the midwife, upon seeing the birth was imminent, voluntarily delayed going off duty just to ensure all went well.
She would have been in trouble with the hospital wardens before this matter was resolved.
T. W. MacFarlane.Carey Mill,Dunsinnan Road,Wolfhill.
Why the need for pylons?
Sir,-More snow. More power lines down. More chaos.
So can anyone tell me why they are persisting in building these giant pylons in the Highlands?
J. Ferrier.Duncan Avenue,Arbroath.
Are we losing our immunity?
Sir,-In recent years a nasty bug has been on the rampage. Its symptoms are alarming as it causes vomiting and diarrhoea, often both at once.
It has, and still is, closing hospital wards. It is rife out in the community and apparently this year it is far more widespread.
One report said people are not going to the doctor when they first have the symptoms. But the question is, can the doctor treat this nasty bug?
I wonder if it is the way we live today, where so much emphasis is on cleanliness. These days, everything has to be shining but we should remember the saying a wee bit dirt never did you harm.
We have lost the immunity we once had because of our obsession with cleanliness. Perhaps rather than beating the bugs we are helping them on their way.
Thomas Brown.6 Tulliebelton Road,Bankfoot.
Subsidy skews energy equation
Sir,-If anyone is wondering why there has been an upsurge in small (12 to 15kW) windmills popping up, I suggest this is driven by an enhanced subsidy rather than any desire to save the planet.
On Thursday, a new subsidy called the Feed-in-Tariff was introduced which increases the subsidy from around five pence per unit (kWh) to over 26 pence per unit generated, regardless of whether the electricity is fed into the grid or not.
This contrasts with the 12-14p per unit consumers pay electricity suppliers and, of course, the cost of this subsidy is added to the retail cost.
G. M. Lindsay.Whinfield Gardens,Kinross.