I AM not surprised to hear that many railway workers believe they are being used as pawns by politically-motivated union barons.
With the railways on their knees, despite £16 billion in lockdown bailouts, they are right to worry.
On Tuesday, without even consulting their members on a new offer from the government, the hardcore RMT delivered the coup de grace.
Despite earlier promises to the contrary, the union is effectively closing down the rail network from 6pm on Christmas Eve for three days.
The insistence by RMT President Mick Lynch that the new strike is aimed merely at engineering works, is disingenuous.
Without engineering, there can be no trains.
And without trains, hundreds of thousands will find themselves unable to enjoy the first Covid-regulation-free Christmas for three years.
Despite breaking his word, Mr Lynch, a seeming relic of the industrial unrest of the 1970s, is unapologetic.
One of his many justifications for the strike is the cost of living crisis, although closing the railways only exacerbates the problem.
Without a car, plans will founder for many unable to get to – and from – their Christmas destinations.
The hospitality trade will be hit hard as bookings are cancelled, with losses already estimated to be £1.5 billion.
The cost in human misery is unquantifiable.
As a result, like the environmental protestors, Mr Lynch is in danger of losing any public sympathy he may once have won.
His refusal to countenance anything other than total capitulation to his demands leaves negotiators with nowhere to go.
As I’ve said, the taxpayer has already forked out billions of pounds to protect jobs on the railways and many others during the pandemic.
These Left-leaning relics from the 1970s have a lot to answer for.