• I READ with interest the letters in respect of the RMT, the National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers.

In the interests of fairness and openness, I think it would be far more helpful if both sides of the dispute were given, in the mainstream press, that is, the huge profits the companies make and where those companies are based, together with the salaries of the directors etc.

The very good letter from David Reed (Why ownership matters to the UK, December 1) mentioned one of the bus companies.

I am informed by the trade unions that on average the rail companies make £500million in profit each year.Why cannot some of the profit be invested to protect jobs and services? The strikes cover far more areas.

I am now disabled, but I commuted for many years on trains etc. As a woman I want the stations to be staffed properly. Even more so now. If I collapse how will a ticket machine help me? I need to be able to sit and frequently require assistance from the staff to negotiate the timetables and the trains, that is, to get on and off a train.

If the cuts go ahead how will the vulnerable – the elderly, people with disabilities, or those with young children, cope? And what of those who are blind? Travelling on the tube as a disabled person is extremely difficult.

A good example is the new £19billion Elizabeth line. Several of the stations, I simply cannot access as a disabled person. At many stations the trains are not even level with the platform.Yet, for example, the trams which have run for years in Croydon, are.

I am at complete loss to understand how anyone considers it to be acceptable, at any level, for staff not to be paid properly and not to be given decent employment hours in 2022.

The trade unions are fighting for justice for us all.

SARAH BIRD
Address supplied