Heart Attack Strikes

Heart attacks seldom occur without notice. In most cases they will not be attributable to a ten-year diet of deep-fried Mars bars, but poor diet is certainly a major contributor to the stresses afflicting the body. Sadly, the cultural inertia behind dietary advice offered for the last 30 years is likely to perpetuate the idea that dietary fat and lack of exercise are to blame. What’s undeniable is that a heart attack is a major inconvenience to the individual. Similarly, strikes are a major inconvenience to society. In both cases we have reached a crisis point which precipitates in a cry for help. If we’re lucky the blue lights appear in time to whisk us off for a stent and statins regime to keep us stabilised while we ‘take it easy’ and regain our strength. ACAS may similarly bring management and unions together to establish a truce that allows normal service to be restored. Crises may be averted but the underlying problems often remain. Cardiologists are familiar with stent patients returning for further surgery because they failed to change lifestyle once their crisis had passed. Industrial disputes may flare up again amidst bitter recriminations that one side or the other reneged on its agreement. In both cases I believe that instead of trying to establish Who’s wrong, a long term resolution requires that we find out What’s wrong. In both cases attention has drifted away from the service we’re supposed to supply. The body needs its heart to keep beating but it also needs proper nutrition and maintenance in order to do so. Those withdrawing their labour may be exasperated at ever tightening operating conditions that ultimately prevent them from performing to their ability. Solutions that deliver in the long term will be those that systematically dismantle the factors that contributed to the crisis. They will be solutions arrived at through mutual appreciation and dialogue. Parties will be guided in their deliberations by consideration of the long term needs of the service they supply rather than parochial and short term desires.