LETTERS

RMTnews :: september 2006 :: www.rmt.org.uk 28 Dear editor, I'd just like to say how good our magazine is, compact glossy and full of colour. I have read other union publications and they just look tatty and bland and are too big too handle comfortably, keep this format it outshines others I have seen. Trevor Munton-Willis Dear Editor, I read with interest Janine Booth’s letter in the last issue of RMT News and felt I should clarify a couple of things with regard to my article on my trip to North Korea. Firstly, I’d like to say that I always enjoy the articles about international trade unionism in RMT News and I believe it’s important to keep readers informed of what’s happening around the globe. However, I find it hard to see how Janine came to the conclusion that “every issue of RMT News carries an article in praise of Cuba or North Korea”. I can quite confidently state that the only article on North Korea I’ve ever read in RMT News was the one that I wrote! A number of colleagues expressed an interest and I thought that other transport workers may be interested to read about my experiences on the Pyongang Metro and the friendship and solidarity I experienced. I have just re-read my article and at no point did I refer to the DPRK as a “socialist paradise” or express any sort of praise for the government there. However, the welcome I received was extremely warm and friendly and most of the things I had read about the place in the western media turned out to be completely over the top or just downright untrue. While I agree with a lot of what Janine says regarding certain freedoms in countries like Cuba and North Korea, I do not think that we should stop covering events there in RMT News. Janine suggests that we should have “reports from independent trade unions in these countries but they do not exist, because the regimes do not allow them”. Surely then, there is all the more reason to travel there, meet the workers and report back to our colleagues at home. I will be travelling back to the DPRK in October and would be happy to discuss my experiences, in depth, with other RMT members. Feel free to contact me through my branch. Yours in solidarity, Paul Bowman LETTERS