why is there so much hostility towards trades unions here?

torontoboy45

ruggedtoast wrote: »

My local TU is just a bit ineffective. I think they're starting to feel a bit beaten down by all the redundancies, a lot of the senior union people took voluntary and theres a bit of a power vacuum.

I'm not sure people hate unions, some of them are atrocious on local level however and individual union reps can be very difficult. Sometimes they tend to be people who failed to progress much within their organisation so take on Union work - but have a bit of an agenda of their own.

I do know once case where management of one charity offered, out of the blue and as a goodwill gesture to their staff (who have a horrible job working with very disturbed people) , a very generous offer that all bank holiday weekends would be made into 4 days on full pay.

i.e if you have Monday off you can also get Friday. The union managed to turn this altruistic gesture into an acrimonious dispute about what happens over annual leave, what about part timers, people on sick leave, we demand our members rights to equality etc.

Until management eventually told them to stick it and withdrew the offer. As they only represent 30% of the workforce they didnt win themselves much goodwill. So yeah, some are just unreasonable.

point taken.

I should consider myself lucky in belonging to a TU that is pretty effective at all levels. occasionally a story leaks out about the leadership that does the TU no favours at all, but generally speaking it's on the ball.

disappointing, though, to hear of other TU's behaving in an imbecilic way.

chewmylegoff

i agree with the above, that there's no real need for unions anymore - further, their leaders are generally speaking a bunch of hypocrites who rave on about 'fat cats' whilst in effect leaching off low paid employees by collecting subs and paying themselves top dollar for doing very little (except, in some cases, having unnecessary strikes every now and then which actually cost their workforce money as they all have to take strike pay and get no tangible improvement in terms and conditions).

torontoboy45

The_White_Horse wrote: »

because they are hateful money grabbing scum who want nothing but pay increases, and don't care where the money comes from, even if there isn't any. They bring chaos to the working man with their strikes.

They have no place in a modern society. they should be outlawed.

woah, man! you really are beat up about this.

as a TU member am I one of the 'scum' you mention?

chewmylegoff

ruggedtoast wrote: »

My local TU is just a bit ineffective. I think they're starting to feel a bit beaten down by all the redundancies, a lot of the senior union people took voluntary and theres a bit of a power vacuum.

I'm not sure people hate unions, some of them are atrocious on local level however and individual union reps can be very difficult. Sometimes they tend to be people who failed to progress much within their organisation so take on Union work - but have a bit of an agenda of their own.

I do know once case where management of one charity offered, out of the blue and as a goodwill gesture to their staff (who have a horrible job working with very disturbed people) , a very generous offer that all bank holiday weekends would be made into 4 days on full pay.

i.e if you have Monday off you can also get Friday. The union managed to turn this altruistic gesture into an acrimonious dispute about what happens over annual leave, what about part timers, people on sick leave, we demand our members rights to equality etc.

Until management eventually told them to stick it and withdrew the offer. As they only represent 30% of the workforce they didnt win themselves much goodwill. So yeah, some are just unreasonable.

the union where i used to work got the link between performance and salary increase removed - they wanted everyone to get a blanket pay award, rather than those who deserved it getting extra, and under performers being penalised. a triumph for those that do nothing all day, well done union. (to be fair, they probably were acting in the interests of their members, who were all the people who sat around doing nothing all day).

the_ash_and_the_oak

unions are good for those who wish for wage inflation but less so for those who don't

ruggedtoast

The_White_Horse wrote: »

because they are hateful money grabbing scum who want nothing but pay increases, and don't care where the money comes from, even if there isn't any. They bring chaos to the working man with their strikes.

They have no place in a modern society. they should be outlawed.

Do you read the Daily Mail every day?

The_White_Horse

chewmylegoff wrote: »

the union where i used to work got the link between performance and salary increase removed - they wanted everyone to get a blanket pay award, rather than those who deserved it getting extra, and under performers being penalised. a triumph for those that do nothing all day, well done union. (to be fair, they probably were acting in the interests of their members, who were all the people who sat around doing nothing all day).

typical union rubbish.

they served their purpose, when workers had no rights. our rights are now enshrined in legislation and there is no need for them anymore. think of them as a fax machine now email exists. Or better still, a cassette now we have ipods.

dinosaur unions should be abolished.

ses6jwg

The_White_Horse wrote: »

typical union rubbish.

they served their purpose, when workers had no rights. our rights are now enshrined in legislation and there is no need for them anymore. think of them as a fax machine now email exists. Or better still, a cassette now we have ipods.

dinosaur unions should be abolished.

the legislation in the UK is still heavily in favour of the employer, unlike on the continent

torontoboy45

chewmylegoff wrote: »

i agree with the above, that there's no real need for unions anymore - further, their leaders are generally speaking a bunch of hypocrites who rave on about 'fat cats' whilst in effect leaching off low paid employees by collecting subs and paying themselves top dollar for doing very little (except, in some cases, having unnecessary strikes every now and then which actually cost their workforce money as they all have to take strike pay and get no tangible improvement in terms and conditions).

I take it you're talking generally.
in my workplace there's every need. I've lost count of the no. of over-promoted, incompetent management staff who arrived seemingly hell-bent on creating confrontation and disharmony. inevitably he/she is is eventually moved to a position where people skills aren't needed.

ruggedtoast

torontoboy45 wrote: »

point taken.

I should consider myself lucky in belonging to a TU that is pretty effective at all levels. occasionally a story leaks out about the leadership that does the TU no favours at all, but generally speaking it's on the ball.

disappointing, though, to hear of other TU's behaving in an imbecilic way.

Yeah it was absurd. I think the point the managers told them to stick it was after it had dragged on bitterly for over a year, at which point the Union insisted that they wanted back pay at time and a half for all the Fridays that had been worked since the offer had been made. That obviously no one had had off because the union themselves had blocked it.

Idiots.

I'm with Unison - I think they do their best. Someone from Unison head office turned up at our last meeting. He looked a bit like an alcoholic tramp. Said nothing and shuffled out halfway through.