Ed Miliband has struck the right note in suggesting that both the Government and the Unions try to avoid Wednesday's walk-out by public sector workers and continue to negotiate.
This is a far-cry from the sentiments of his Shadow Chancellor, leftwinger Ed Balls, who has declared that he has 'huge sympathy for the strikers'. http://news.sky.com/home/politics/article/16118538
I have always been fully supportive of the principle of a worker's right to take industrial action.
However, I firmly believe on this occasion that this week's walkout should not go ahead. Those employed in the public sector enjoy far more generous pensions than most in the private sector can only dream of.
And given the fact that far less than half the union members eligible actually bothered to vote at all, one has to question the legitimacy of this strike.
One has to remember too, that those very militant trade union leaders who call for industrial action at every opportunity currently receive enormous six-figure salaries and will be the beneficiaries of very generous pensions when they retire.
It is impossible to ignore the hypocrisy here.
The Coalition pulled back this week from their threats to reform strike legislation. I only hope that agreement is reached at the eleventh hour and the lives of millions of people are not unnecessarily disrupted.
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