A YEAR or two before I retired from what was then Bolton Institute, all staff were required to sign a new contact, I refused to sign it because I had a principled objection to certain of its terms. I was penalised — I didn't get any pay rises and in consequence my retirement pension was a little smaller than it would have been, but otherwise no action was taken against me. Although I was the only member of staff to refuse to sign, I have never regretted my decision

My experience is, I think useful when considering the junior doctors' dispute, as it indicates that there is an alternative to strike action, and one which is obviously preferable to it: and that is for as many junior doctors as possible, acting as individuals but in pursuit of a collective end, to refuse to sign the contract, but to continue working as usual. No contract can be imposed on anyone who refuses to sign it. The numbers involved would mean that no doctor would be sacked

The advantage of such a course of action (particularly if accompanied with offers of discussion) is that it would not alienate the public as the proposed draconian programme of strikes will certainly do: indeed Hunt and May are counting on that happening. They realise that sooner or later the strikes will lead to the deaths of identifiable people and the strikers will be subject to a media barrage.

And even if that does not happen, the claim of the junior doctors to be concerned with the state of the NHS will look increasingly hollow to the public when they see patients being put at needless risk. I would like to hear from junior doctors as to what they think of my proposal. They must remember that when May did not remove Hunt and indeed threw her weight behind him, she was calculating that the junior doctors like the miners before them could be beaten into submission. May will want to show that she is a tough leader like Margaret Thatcher, her only female predecessor

Malcolm Pittock

St James Avenue

Bolton