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Regardless of how I decide to vote in the ballot for industrial action, I am always depressed by boardroom justifications for inequitable pay rises along the lines of: "Their remuneration packages reflect what it takes to attract, retain and reward individuals of sufficient calibre".

("Employers accuse unions of pre-emptive action", January 20).

This implies that those of us in the lower ranks, who have not enjoyed a pay rise of 30 per cent in the past three years, are of insufficient calibre to deserve it relative to our own smaller salaries.

It is also an insult to those high-calibre senior administrators who have taken a stand against inequitable pay conditions both by example and through public utterance.

Will Kaufman Reader in English and American studies University of Central Lancashire