Sir, - It's time that the trade union leaders realised that their core responsibility is to their members. They cannot control inflation or compel the Government to do so. They have no power to set the price of oil, the level of interest rates or the price of houses. I doubt if even the Government can control inflation at this stage, given that it no longer has the power to increase interest rates.
The trade union leaders must seek by compensatory wage increases to preserve the living standards of their members, particularly those working in the public service. Public service employees have gained very little from the Celtic Tiger economy. We don't enjoy, for example, share options, profit sharing, annual bonuses, company cars, free VHI, etc., so we rely solely on our unions to negotiate wage agreements which will preserve our living standards. The current PPF agreement fails dismally in this respect and should be completely renegotiated in light of the present runaway inflation. - Yours, etc.,
Tom McCabe, Sutton, Dublin 13.