Letter: Even `good' employers need trade unions

Sir: Your opinion (leading article, 10 September), "Yes we need unions, but unions need to change", is based on a fundamental misunderstanding.

It is not just because some employers "fail to reach the gold standard" that trade unions are needed. It is because, as you say, "conflicts between those who create jobs and those who take jobs are ineluctable". I write as a former trade union official, who spent much of his working life dealing with workplace safety and health hazards. Statutory national standards of occupational safety and health are set by governments, not by employers or employees. Both sides of industry have an equal right to be consulted in their formulation. Employers, even good employers, of whom there are many, cannot be accepted as sole arbiters. That is one important reason why trade unions are necessary.

C R DALE

Saffron Walden, Essex