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Strike action bereft of reasonableness

Bus commuters in this country are suffering silently at the moment as State bus services remain crippled following a prolonged strike by trade unions in the relevant sector over a demand for a Rs. 2,500 salary increase.

Transport Minister Felix Perera has made the Government's position amply clear on this issue. The several cluster bus companies which handle this segment of the public transport system are not, strictly speaking, State organisations which could look forward to substantial State funding on an indefinite basis. On the contrary, these cluster bus companies are expected to be self-financing bodies which raise their own funds.

Accordingly, the transport authorities are not in a position to grant ad hoc salary increases to State bus employees. This has to be done by the managements of the relevant cluster bus companies, on the basis of the profits they make. However, until such time that these cluster bus companies are brought under the central State transport authority, which is the CTB, the transport authorities would not be in a position to address this issue.

Accordingly, the striking workers would need to wait patiently, until these changes are effected - that is, until the cluster bus companies are brought under the control of the CTB. This the State has pledged to do, but the striking workers would need to show some forbearance. The Government does not intend turning a deaf ear to their demand.

Thus have the State transport authorities made their position abundantly clear and it is plain to see that this approach easily meets the test of reasonableness, but the strikers, apparently, would have none of it. They seem to be determined to pursue their aggressive course of action.

As could be seen, it is the commuting public who are worst hit by the defiant trade union action of the workers. The State transport authorities themselves are hardly affected by it. Doesn't it strike the trade unions that this is callousness and indifference of the worst kind? Don't they realise that a little flexibility on their part would finally enable them to win the day?

We are aware that the cluster bus companies have been rendering yeoman service to the public over the years, particularly when private bus operators chose to wield the strike weapon, in the wild pursuit of pecuniary gain at any cost. During such crises, the cluster bus companies and their transport operators earned the praises of all for going to the rescue of the public.

Given this positive track record, it is indeed disappointing to find that the State transport sector could callously let the public down in their hour of need. We call on the striking trade unions to reconsider their current course of action and give topmost priority to the people's well being.

On air in air

It's familiar to air travellers : "Switch off your mobile phones. The use of communications devices including mobile phones is completely prohibited during the entire flight."

This may soon be history, if initiatives by aircraft manufacturers, the airline industry and the telecommunications industry succeed. They envisage that passengers would be able to use their own mobiles at all stages of the flight.

The European company Airbus and a Geneva-based information technology firm said Tuesday they had set up a joint venture named OnAir to make mobile telephone services available for passengers during flights. The satellite company INMARSAT is also working on a similar system using their SWIFT64 platform.

Most jetliners already have air-to-ground satellite phones, but they literally cost the earth. Eight dollars a minute is no peanuts even for high-flying corporate executives. But the new system would cut costs down as it allows passengers to use their own mobile phones and laptop wireless Internet access to communicate normally with people on the ground. Slated to go on air possibly after 2006, the system relies on widely used GSM technology.

This is a breakthrough that mobile users have been waiting for. The GSM network practically covers the world. If a subscriber has a roaming-enabled phone, the same number can be used anywhere within the global coverage area. The aircraft remains one of the last few places where mobiles cannot be used, but by 2007 it will be a different story.

This will be good news for those who cannot live without their mobiles even for a few hours (By the way, how did we manage without them in the pre-mobile era ?).

Businessmen on long haul flights have long been frustrated as they have been unable to contact their clients and superiors via voice and email. The new system will enable them to work and talk throughout the flight (except take off and landing) at affordable rates.

Nevertheless, there are those who feel that airliners should have been left alone. They were one of the last few places where one could not hear a ringtone. The good news is that the crew will have complete control over the system. For example, they will be able to switch to SMS-only mode when it is 'night' in the cabin.

Handset makers will naturally be delighted by this turn of events. They are already anticipating a huge market for 3G phones this year and prices for the all-singing, all-dancing multimedia instruments are set to plummet. In-flight compatibility will help ring in more profits and more smiles.

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