Imagine - what would happen if ...!

All photos courtesy of Unsplash

Imagine the unsettling sight of uncollected bins and rubbish strewn across the streets. This was the reality not long ago in Warrington, a place close to my home. The refuse workers and street cleaners were on strike, likely for valid reasons. However, this situation exposed many people to potential health hazards, underscoring the gravity of the issue. 

A few years back, I was headed to Ballymena in Northern Ireland for a week. My travel route was set to pass through Liverpool John Lennon Airport. A few days before my departure, I learned from the web that some baggage handlers were on strike. Upon reaching the airport, I was relieved to find that my flight was unaffected. However, the strike did cause significant inconvenience to many and incurred additional costs for the travelling public, as employees had to be brought in from Dublin and other places to fill in for the strikers. Apart from the recent action by junior doctors, I have not been affected by people striking for quite a long time. However, I remember well the miner's strikes, the fuel protests, and many other types of strikes in my sixty-two years. Strikes are a very effective, if not annoying and sometimes illegal, way of making a point. In the long run, someone suffers, and it costs money.