ROWNTREE workers fearing for their jobs shouldn't pin their hopes on Peter Blackburn or Rupert Murdoch's Sun.

The Sun hit a nerve when it accused Nestl of cynically manipulating workers' fears to boost support for the Euro. But no one can seriously believe that Murdoch cares what happens to workers in York, Hamburg, or anywhere else. This is the man whose activities at Wapping became a by-word for vicious attacks on workers' wages and conditions.

Nor should anyone be fooled by Mr Blackburn. His job is to maximise Nestl profits and he will do whatever he thinks necessary to achieve that aim. If it means sacking thousands, he will do it.

How many thousands of jobs have disappeared at Rowntrees in the last 25 years? None of them had anything to do with the pound or the Euro, and everything to do with boosting profits.

It seems Nestl's billions of pounds of profits are not enough to satisfy the greed of its fat cat bosses.

In truth, Mr Blackburn and Mr Murdoch are cut from the same cloth. They both have the single aim of making bigger profits. The only difference is that Murdoch wants the pound linked to the US dollar, while Blackburn wants it linked to the German mark, reflecting the core locations for each business.

Rowntree's workers would do better to rely on their own efforts to save their jobs. The recent experience of Rover and Ford workers show how little faith can be put in the leaders of government and big business. In both instances, the real fight to save jobs has come from below, with the workers organising independently to force concessions from their bosses.

If Rowntree workers stand firm and united, they can stop any job losses.

Frank Ormston,

Waverley Street, York.

...YOUR leading article on the single currency (July 11) perpetuates the fallacy that the decision to join the Euro or not is only related to the economy and "long term prosperity."

The much more important, and wider, issue is the inevitable loss of independence and sovereignty of this country, if control of our currency and financial affairs is given to appointed European bankers and foreign politicians.

At present the Euro is weak in relation to the pound. But this could change in both the short and long term. It would be a grave error to allow short-term considerations to influence a decision which would bring long-term loss of independence.

Dr David Hopton,

Church Lane,

Nether Poppleton, York.

...HAVE you ever tasted Hamburg-made KitKat?

I can assure you that York KitKat makers have no need to fear for their jobs because of lost sales of this product.

It is made of a dark, less creamy chocolate than our own and certainly would not sell in preference over here.

There appears to be an agenda of provoking a fear of job losses if we do not enter the Euro.

We do not have a strong pound - there is a weak Euro. So weak, in fact, that two thirds of Germans wonder why they entered and a majority of Danes do not wish to enter at all.

Nestl's argument does not hold water if the raw materials cost so much less here than in the Euro zone and labour costs are greater in Hamburg.

It would appear that only the weak currencies like Greece can enter easily, we would have to wait on the sidelines of the European Monetary Unit for two years before we would be allowed in according to the Euro finance ministers' decision last week.

Do not forget Black Wednesday.

Dave Marsh,

Millfield Lane,

York.