Rises and falls 4

Philip Cowley appears to have undergone a conversion to 19th-century industrial relations over the past two years (March 10). In 2004, he tells us, he took action short of a strike and considers it was "very effective". Now he recommends sending staff taking such action home with no pay at all. After all, he suggests, this is what happens when workers in other occupations take lawful industrial action.

It would be interesting to know what event or epiphany pushed Cowley into this world of his own and whether he will refuse the pay increase when the settlement between the employers and the Association of University Teachers is made because of the means used to achieve it.

Howard Moss University of Wales Swansea