Unions should focus on reducing prices

WHEN will the public sector unions realise the Government simply cannot row back on pay cuts? It would be much better if the unions expended their energies instead on things that can be changed.

Specifically, there needs to be a focus on reducing consumer prices. There has never been a satisfactory explanation as to why prices in this state are so much higher than in the North.

To begin with, why is it that shipping costs between Britain and Ireland are among the highest in the world, thus contributing to higher costs for all imported goods?

Since the Government shows little or no interest in this area (no doubt because it is infested with vested interests), it is surely an area that the unions could pursue for the common good of all rather than engaging in quixotic efforts to achieve their own narrow ends. By reducing consumer prices they would effectively increase the real incomes of their members, which should be their true objective.

John Stafford

Dargle Wood

Dublin 16