DirtyHarry wrote:We must move away from an over-reliance on public support. One group of people , and one group alone, will win this struggle, Pokemon mate,
and that's us, postal workers. Great if members of the public give us a cheer, toot their car horns, but it's not essential. I've seen it here in London,
our brothers and sisters on the tubes don't get any public support apart from other trade unionists. Do they give a feck, not at all. 
Understandable, I don't see the city side of things here in hick-country!
It will do us no harm in letting folk know what the real crack is rather than relying on the piss-poor media in general.
Although it failed in the long run, don't forget the miners and the public sympathy they generated and relied upon during the prolonged dispute. Okay, so it's a terrible comparison as they are very different examples but I'm just saying that we need to get the point across in as many ways as possible. More public support will lead to more angry letters, press, etc....or, at least, it should?!
Conspiracies aside, I see your point but this is more national than the London tubes so it'll be a little different. The vast majority of us cannot speak for the tube service as we never/rarely use it whereas our dispute will effect everyone in the country.
A dispute this wide-ranging needs all the support it can get, especially since the majority of the media seems to be hellbent against us.
:lfo
It will have much more of an effect on the competition than the earlier ones. 
Don't let the BBC delude you into thinking that they have switched sides.