Back pain, the unions and social-networking

So how do you explain the postal strike when it makes little-to-no business sense whatsoever?  That’s the question which Danny Finkelstein sets about tackling in his superb column today.  I won’t set out his full answer here – you should read the full article for that – but suffice to say that it involves back pain in East Germany and the latest research into social-networking.  Overall, it makes a very persuasive case, and one which has clear implications for policymakers.  As Danny concludes:

“If the Royal Mail dispute were about individual postal workers and their economic interest, it would be easy enough to solve. It could be ended in a conciliatory way with most people better off. Unfortunately things aren’t that simple. This is about the power and coherence of a group, and a group’s resolve. The sad truth is that the dispute cannot be ended until the group is broken.