Trade Union membership

[barney10]

Ronnie two different unions Bob's GS of the RMT. The BA action was through Unite.
For all your soft pedalling about your boss you despise unions full stop. Good luck to you, your lucky but there are millions who ain't so fortunate.

 

[scorer]

bob crow walks the walk mate....

tony woodley well he has to listen to his members whether he likes it or not

Bob Crow is an arse of the lowest order. The BA issue could have been resolved if there wasn't a handful of militants stirring up the sh*t

^^^THIS^^^

Bob crow is an inaritculate trouble maker.

Tony Woodley was loving the BA dispute

Derek Simpson...

These people have forgotten their roots.<br /><br />-- Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:57 pm --<br /><br />

Ronnie two different unions Bob's GS of the RMT. The BA action was through Unite.
For all your soft pedalling about your boss you despise unions full stop. Good luck to you, your lucky but there are millions who ain't so fortunate.

I think Ronnie was making two separate points.

One about Crow

The other about BA dispute??

 

[Ronnie the Rep]

Ronnie two different unions Bob's GS of the RMT. The BA action was through Unite.
For all your soft pedalling about your boss you despise unions full stop. Good luck to you, your lucky but there are millions who ain't so fortunate.

as Scorer says, I was making two points not one. I am not anti-union and used to be a member. what I am saying is that there may be a better way to run industrial relations than unions and management butting heads

 

[Ghandi's Flip Flops]

A boss runs a business to make money. A boss or company is not there to provide employment just for the sake of it. The only 'boss' that does this the government. This is one of the reasons why the public sector costs so much money and is ineffecient. For every 5 decent hard working public servants there is probably 2 total 'waste of space' who are still there because its nearly impossible to get rid off, partly due to union backing.

Believe me it is not nigh on impossible not to be dismissed in the public sector yet another myth pedaled.
As long as any employer follows its own procedures correctly they shouldn't have any problem dismissing an employee.
The fact is most of them are piss poor and haven't got a clue, no rep worth his or her salt is going to have them if they balls it up.[/quote]

I can't disagree with that totally, but a big problem in the public sector is the time & cost to dismiss an employee. As a contractor i am usually on a 5 day notice period, so basically i am only as good as my last weeks work. If i don't produce i'm out the door. Following procedure can take months for a permanent employee to be dismissed and because of the possibilty of an 'unfair dismissal claim' its easier to turn a blind eye to crap employees for a lot of managers. To be honest i have come across a few good union reps in my time, and have seen them fight tooth and nail for decent things like maternity rights, but there has been too many that 'fight the establishment' for the sake of a shite employee who is crap at their job.<br /><br />-- Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:06 am --<br /><br />

Depends what you want from the union and what sector you are in. The role of unions has changed over the last 3 governments. Since New labour the unions play a more partnership role where they work alongside management as opposed to being in conflict. Under old labour unions were strong due to the inluence of collective bargaining. However when the tories got in power Thatcher restricted unions through legislation and Management took a unitary perspective towards dealing with issues in the work place and unions had less influence.

Since Blair initiatives were set up under the third way to help this such as having union learner reps, health and safety reps which can aid organisations quite a lot. Learner reps are able to provide training to members of staff which can boost their skills and C.V and costs very little to their employers. Health and Safety reps have saved companies thousands by carrying out internal inspections and making reccomendations.

If your union provides learner reps and you fancy gaining quals or you think you may face tribunal in the work place at some stage in your life then it may be worth it. If you get on with your employer and they provide a soft HRM approach where they see their employers as assets and value them then I wouldn't bother.

Excellent post.

 

[bruno1]

In the current climate, Union representation is more important than ever, because jobs are scarce ( particularly in the public sector) and employers think that employees have less choices/job opportunities but to stay where they are, so they become more vulnerable to heavy workloads and unreasonable expectations. Employees who stand up for their rights, and the rights of their colleagues can end up being victimised.
Everyone has the right to stand up for themselves in the work place, and be able to express an opinion , I think this is the case because the last time I checked we still lived in a democracy!

 

[barney10]

Ronnie two different unions Bob's GS of the RMT. The BA action was through Unite.
For all your soft pedalling about your boss you despise unions full stop. Good luck to you, your lucky but there are millions who ain't so fortunate.

as Scorer says, I was making two points not one. I am not anti-union and used to be a member. what I am saying is that there may be a better way to run industrial relations than unions and management butting heads

Fair do's Ronnie. Believe me i would much rather deal with a company that wants to have a constructive relationship with us than doesn't. It's better for our members all round and to be honest makes life a lot easier when we get into negotiations.
But if we fall out then so be it, i have never dug my heels in without good reason. It's not about my ego it's about what in the best interest of our membership.

 

[Ronnie the Rep]

as Scorer says, I was making two points not one. I am not anti-union and used to be a member. what I am saying is that there may be a better way to run industrial relations than unions and management butting heads

Fair do's Ronnie. Believe me i would much rather deal with a company that wants to have a constructive relationship with us than doesn't. It's better for our members all round and to be honest makes life a lot easier when we get into negotiations.
But if we fall out then so be it, i have never dug my heels in without good reason. It's not about my ego it's about what in the best interest of our membership.

That's fine Barney, but you and I know that some union leaders work for the members without regard for the future of the company or abuse their monopolistic position - like Bob Crow

 

[Ghandi's Flip Flops]

as Scorer says, I was making two points not one. I am not anti-union and used to be a member. what I am saying is that there may be a better way to run industrial relations than unions and management butting heads

Fair do's Ronnie. Believe me i would much rather deal with a company that wants to have a constructive relationship with us than doesn't. It's better for our members all round and to be honest makes life a lot easier when we get into negotiations.
But if we fall out then so be it, i have never dug my heels in without good reason. It's not about my ego it's about what in the best interest of our membership.

Fair play mate. Maybe if there was more union reps like you, i might think a bit differently about unions, and the positives they could bring. Just think there are still too many dinosaurs out there trying to cling on to a bit of power

 

[barney10]

Fair do's Ronnie. Believe me i would much rather deal with a company that wants to have a constructive relationship with us than doesn't. It's better for our members all round and to be honest makes life a lot easier when we get into negotiations.
But if we fall out then so be it, i have never dug my heels in without good reason. It's not about my ego it's about what in the best interest of our membership.

Fair play mate. Maybe if there was more union reps like you, i might think a bit differently about unions, and the positives they could bring. Just think there are still too many dinosaurs out there trying to cling on to a bit of power

Like any other sector there are good and bad, but as far as my own organisation goes we are striving to be the best we can be and I'm proud to represent them. I spent the majority of my working life on the tools for want of a better word but i absolutely love my job now and it's important to me that i deliver to our members, but you can't please all the people all of the time.

 

[charliebigspuds]

I'd join a union at the drop of a hat if I could, unfortunately I work within a very small company that seems to think shafting its employees is a god given right