unions worth the money?

wrightk

ILW wrote: »

Unite are only really interested in their public sector members. If you are a care worker working for a private company or smaller charity they could not give a damn,

I believe Unison are best for care workers.


I've never been a member of a union, until very recently. It all kicked off at work i got accused of major things, enough to completely ruin a career for me ever working with vulnerable people again, and boy do i wish i had joined sooner.
I had the worst few months ever as a result of these allegations and eventually i was cleared. first thing i did on my return to work was join unison and i wish i had done it sooner

starrystarry

I remember a couple of years ago the Unite rep at our place put a poster up in an attempt to attract new members. It went along the lines of "for the price of two bottles of wine a month you could join the union".

Certainly helped me make my mind up about whether to join or not :beer:

ILW

wrightk wrote: »

I believe Unison are best for care workers.


I've never been a member of a union, until very recently. It all kicked off at work i got accused of major things, enough to completely ruin a career for me ever working with vulnerable people again, and boy do i wish i had joined sooner.
I had the worst few months ever as a result of these allegations and eventually i was cleared. first thing i did on my return to work was join unison and i wish i had done it sooner

Sorry, meant unison.

wrightk

thats odd, as all the homes i have worked for in the past have always reccommended unison as have the staff who are members.

miduck

ohreally wrote: »

You're content to become a parasite then?

This is why I would never join a union - if someone takes a viewpoint they do not agree with, they resort to name calling - parasite, scab and so on. If you think it earns you respect it does anything but - most of us have moved on from the eighties, and language like this should be left there.

CRISPIANNE3

My experience when working for Royal Mail was the union rep was the one who ran with the horses and hounds. Never known such a two faced parasite.

getzls

CRISPIANNE3 wrote: »

My experience when working for Royal Mail was the union rep was the one who ran with the horses and hounds. Never known such a two faced parasite.

I left Royal Mail in 1997 and i'm sure the Management there haven't changed for the better.

If workers ever needed a Union more than Royal Mail employees i don't know who does.

Esoog

I'm quite glad Maude is taking a stand against TU reps, there's one where I work who I only ever see coming in and out of his misted little room, striding around like Mr Important. Not actually doing any of his real work, you know - the stuff his employer pays him to do! Nice work if you can get it.

Also, if I needed the unions help (God help me!) I could join there and then and receive the same help as someone that had paid membership for 30 years. Does that make me a "parasite"? I hope so! I've got more important things to spend my money on

Parva

I was in the NGA as a printer in my teens, then the GPMU which eventually became Amicus. For the very small monthly outlay it was a fantastic thing to have. Things like a lump sum payment in case of death were included but for me it was worth every penny for getting above inflation wage rises year on year but more importantly an extra settlement when my long-standing employers went bust. They were taken to court for breach of contract or something, I forget what the actual case was but the outcome and payment far exceed by many times the total payments I had made in 25 years of printing.

There were employees there who didn't get this 'bonus' payment as they weren't members of the union. Never underestimate what the power of a union can do for the sake of a couple of pints of beer a week.

CRISPIANNE3

getzls wrote: »

I left Royal Mail in 1997 and i'm sure the Management there haven't changed for the better.

If workers ever needed a Union more than Royal Mail employees i don't know who does.

I remember a time in the 70;s when I worked as an International Telegraph operator for the GPO and then it was a closed shop and as such had no choice but to be in the union. Also the management then were terrified of upsetting the union and because of this some of the "deadwood" kept their positions.