I’m not really seeing this alternate reality in which twenty years from now there are lots of jobs behind ticket windows (and *good* jobs as well, just not quite as good as current LT employees have it). I’m not sure it would be a good idea if it were possible.

http://oica.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/oica-depliant-final.pdf

“(it’s not a coincidence that France’s manufacturing industry is far more automated than Japan’s)”

Are you sure about that? I don’t know much about the Japanese auto industry, but this claims that in 2004, Japan produced 10,799,659 vehicles with 750,000 employees (including supply chain), whereas France produced 3,549,008 vehicles with 304,000 workers (including supply chain). I would have though the increase in Japanese productivity (14 vs. 12 vehicles per worker) was associated with a higher level of automation in Japan. Or have I missed something?

Further, you write:

“British union leaders traditionally behaved like Crow. As a result of this antagonistic relationship, companies sought to replace their workforce with machines, foreigners employed abroad, and foreigners employed here. As a result of that, although plenty of British-designed goods are still manufactured, many by British companies and quite a few in the UK, manufacturing employment is at its lowest since the Industrial Revolution. And so is union membership…
Meanwhile in Germany, union leaders have traditionally behaved like the ‘knighthood-chasers’, working co-operatively with companies to maximise efficiency and share the benefits. As a result, Germany still has a great deal of highly skilled domestic manufacturing industry employing a great many people.”
It seems to me this is the other way round: independently of union behaviour, companies are going to go for increased automation and increased productivity.

[I am not an economist, so if what I've written above is just stupid, please just ignore it]

Odd to read pre-credit crunch stuff like this – obviously German industry is suffering more partly because they had more left to lose.

I understand from asking around that ASLEF have successfully negotiated Boris/TfL down from the five year deal (sort of a medium-term no strike agreement) to a two year deal without apparent difficulties or threatening strikes. Boris still hasn’t met them, though, which means he’s talking bollocks about the only block to talking to the unions being strike action – clearly he doesn’t feel it’s worth his time talking to them either way.

Of course, ASLEF disliked the RMT anyway, and presumably Crow’s efforts won’t help this, as from ASLEF’s point of view they were on their way to getting what they wanted without a fuss.