Union leader Walter Reuther’s reply to early automation | Brief letters

An undated photo of Ford Anglia production at Dagenham in London, UK. Our reader John Richards cites an interesting conversation at a Ford plant in Cleveland in 1954. Photograph: Ford/PA

The UK government now says that due to the election all e-petitions will be closed, though people can still read them. Petitions will have to be restarted after the election and signatures cannot be transferred. What a terrible way to treat the public. Some of these petitions have already reached the target of 100,000 and were due to be discussed, such as “Drivers over the age of 70 having to be tested every three years”. We should insist the new petitions committee ensures that the popular ones are discussed and do not have to start again.
Ann Paterson
Didcot, Oxfordshire

• Like Andrew Mayers’ brother (Opinion, 25 April) I had electroconvulsive therapy in 2006 after three years of “treatment-resistant” depression and it gave me my life back with minimal side-effects. When I had a relapse last year, the NHS psychiatrist had no hesitation in prescribing it again and I was completely well within a few weeks. It saddens me to think that Andrew’s brother was not offered that option. Surely the NHS should not hesitate to offer ECT immediately to anyone who has benefited from it in the past.
Ian Arnott
Peterborough, Cambridgeshire

• After years of hard training, Ellie Downie wins the Gymnastic European Championships. The Guardian honours her with the smallest article in the sports section (22 April). Perhaps she and all the other girl gymnasts should have been wearing high heels to work to get more recognition (Ministers accused of cop-out over refusal to outlaw rules on high heels, same edition).
John Wilson (former gymnast and coach)
Long Melford, Suffolk

• Regarding the rise of the robots putting jobs at risk (Report, 15 April and Letters, 25 April), Walter Reuther, the US union leader after the war, was shown around a Ford plant in Cleveland in 1954. A Ford official pointed to some automatically controlled machines and asked Reuther: “How are you going to collect union dues from these guys?” Reuther replied: “How are you going to get them to buy Fords?”.
John Richards
Oxford

• I can’t cope with any more bad news; first Brexit, then Trump and now Bananarama to make a comeback (G2, 24 April).
Ken Balkow
Sheffield

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