to think people shouldn't be accused of hypocrisy because they praise Bob Crow

[daisychain01]

It was a terrible shock to hear yesterday about poor Bob Crow's sad demise. What a terrible loss to his family,friends and all workers who he supported directly and indirectly.

I find it upsetting that people are accused of hypocrisy because they put aside their differences and honour a man whose life was one of principle and dedication. He was true to his working class background. But he was a divisive figure because he didn't give an inch at the negotiating table and the people of London got mighty pissed off when tube drivers went on strike and they already had enviable pay and conditions compared to other union members.

good or bad Bob Crow was the man he was and I don't see why his adversaries shouldn't talk about his good points without being called hypocrites.

What do you think?

Yanbu. You didn't have to agree with him or like his actions or words but there's no denying he was a phenomenal union leader, who undertook the task of looking after his members very seriously. Not to mention that 52 is no age at all and his poor family will have suffered a massive loss.

I think that if a person had nothing good to say about someone when they were alive then it does make them a hypocrite to start enthusing about how brilliant that someone was after they are dead.

That's not to say that it is appropriate either to tear someone to bits the day they die, the loss felt by those who loved them should be respected enough for someone to keep their gob shut for a bit if they hated them!

Today's Steve Bell cartoon in the Guardian sums up Boris' comment only too well.

cartoon here

RIP Bob Crow. You were a good man.

Yanbu
you can disagree with what Bob fought for and how he went about it. but you cant deny he got results for his members and protected their interests. Which was what he was paid for. For that he deserves the respect of his adversaries.
RIP and condolences to his family.

TBH I thought he was absolute twat when he was alive and I won't be changing my opinion just because he died.

So bartman is it everyone who fights for decent pay & working conditions you think is a twat? Or is your bile reserved purely for Bob Crow for some unspecified reason?

I'm guessing bartman was inconvenienced by industrial action on the way to work once, perhaps.

S/he doesn't approve of trades unions on principle; but her/his ire is most profound when peoples' fight to preserve their jobs and improve or maintain working conditions affects her/him.

perfectly put meddie.

I think bartman's comment typifies people who felt strongly against Bob Crow.

Some people just didn't 'get' what he was trying to achieve, they saw him as a pain, a thorn in the side of management and someone who was resisting modernity.

I listened to a rerun of an interview with him on LBC yesterday - it was such an eye-opener. He was challenging the decisions to cut the number of Underground staff 'on the ground', staff who are there to answer queries and give good customer service - the type everyone was gung-ho about during 2012 Olympics, because it was amazing how it transformed London! His was a compelling argument - he wanted to re-humanise the experience, where everything nowadays is automation, call-centres, no humans anywhere. His was the humanitarian argument.

To the people he served, to the people who otherwise would not have a voice, he was someone who had principles, and always stood by the ideal of fair pay for workers, and the right for every man and woman to down-tools. That was the fundamental tenit of an industrialised society.

Well, they often say, you don't know what you've got til it's gone. I think this country will be the poorer for the loss of Bob Crow. I never thought I'd say that, because I used to think he was 'feathering his own nest', but he was a good, decent man.