Unions

Southend1

Buellguy wrote: »

imagine the uproar on here if that was in any kind of employment or purchasing contract (which is in effect what you are doing when you join a union)

I bet most companies don't actually give out staff handbooks and copies of all HR policies and procedures during the recruitment process. And if they did, how many people would read them all cover to cover?

Buellguy

Southend1 wrote: »

I bet most companies don't actually give out staff handbooks and copies of all HR policies and procedures during the recruitment process. And if they did, how many people would read them all cover to cover?

Easy, the difference being the company aren't asking YOU to part with YOUR money to finance a political party YOU may not support

Southend1

Buellguy wrote: »

Easy, the difference being the company aren't asking YOU to part with YOUR money to finance a political party YOU may not support

Same principle though. You're being asked to enter into a contract without full information about the implications of doing so being provided up front and without asking.

Yorkie1

Not all unions auto-subscribe to a political party.

I remain in a job because of the efforts of my union rep in negotiating for me with my employer. That's worth my monthly subscription alone.

Woolwich_Kim

Been away a while and was looking for this thread!!

Thanks everyone, some useful advice and opinions there.

It seems as if non being a member can be beneficial too as I read parts of the link someone posted, and the stuff unions have achieved (minimum wage, equality legislation etc) benefits all whether you're a member or not.

I've spoken to a couple of colleagues who are members, one of them said when she don't believe unions are as effective anymore as nowadays you get so many agency workers and non union members that a strike don't have the same effect as it may have done some 30 years ago so if she was to start her career now she wouldn't bother join.

That's easy for her to say as she plans to retire in 5 years but I'm still looking at a further 30 years of work at least.

At the moment the only thing stopping me joining (apart from me being perm there under 2 years) is I'd like to get my own property (as many people my age are) so £14-£18 a month is quite a bit for someone saving for a deposit and I also want to have minimal outgoings for the mortgage calculation when the time comes.

Person_one

Join, they can save you money in the long run.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-17147235

marybelle01

Woolwich_Kim wrote: »

Been away a while and was looking for this thread!!

Thanks everyone, some useful advice and opinions there.

It seems as if non being a member can be beneficial too as I read parts of the link someone posted, and the stuff unions have achieved (minimum wage, equality legislation etc) benefits all whether you're a member or not.

I've spoken to a couple of colleagues who are members, one of them said when she don't believe unions are as effective anymore as nowadays you get so many agency workers and non union members that a strike don't have the same effect as it may have done some 30 years ago so if she was to start her career now she wouldn't bother join.

That's easy for her to say as she plans to retire in 5 years but I'm still looking at a further 30 years of work at least.

At the moment the only thing stopping me joining (apart from me being perm there under 2 years) is I'd like to get my own property (as many people my age are) so £14-£18 a month is quite a bit for someone saving for a deposit and I also want to have minimal outgoings for the mortgage calculation when the time comes.

I cannot take credit for the following argument, but I agree with it wholeheartedly. When you buy your property you will be an idiot if you do not insure it and its contents, won't you? After all, for a long long time it will "belong" to the bank until you have paid off that loan. Find that it has been flooded and the structure undermined so that it falls down, it burns to the ground in a riot (or just a careless and faulty electrical point) - whatever, you still owe the money if your property in embers or piles of bricks. That is what insurance is for.


If you drive a car, or want to, you will have to insure it by law. But apart from that, have you seen the price of cars? Or the state of the other drivers. Who is paying up if someone totals your car? The insurance.


What are you going to pay for your mortgage and car - and everything else with? Well unless your lottery ticket comes in, it is your wages. If you don't have a job, where will the wages come from?


No, unions aren't perfect - what is? Your employer? They also can't protect you from your own stupidity (getting sacked for something you actually did do!), nor all the things that employers get up to. The law isn't on the side of workers. It protects employees from the worst excesses of employers - nothing more.


You'll only ever get subjective advice on this subject from most people. My union membership (30 years) has MORE than paid for itself over that time. Literally. And that was before the days of costs for an employment tribunal and such. And it is particularly valuable in the public sector - unions may not have the clout they once had, but the public sector is very careful of them. Not least because none of them can now afford the insurances for legal protection when a major union takes them on!


Can't afford a union - you can't NOT afford a union. Almost everything you value in life will be paid for by that wage, or underpinned by it. Take a good look around some other threads here and find all those people who didn't join - there are plenty of them, and there aren't many saying "best decision I ever made".






And unions have collective buying power (which is just an extra reason to join) - cheaper insurance, health plans, mortgages - they do the whole range now, and they may not always be the cheapest you could get, but they sometimes are, and even when not the cheapest they can often offer terms that others can't.


There are lots of reason to join a union. The best one is that if you don't, you need legal insurance - good legal insurance - which can't represent you, can't sit in the room if you need them with you, and will probably cost as much for cover that is not better. But what you can't afford is NOTHING that protects your employment...

1DayAAT

I have belonged to Unison for about a year now, and have been in my current job with a sub-contractor to a local government, for about 3 years. Overall, I am glad I decided to be a member because it's always handy to have a wealth of knowledge on tap about laws and rights etc, and knowing that there will be a rep to accompany you to meetings etc should push ever come to shove.

The only downside is that my branch is terribly hard to get hold of whenever I've needed to but if it was urgent I would push it. I have disability issues and am always a bit wary that I might be taken advantage of so having the legal backing of Unison is comforting.

And although my fee is £14 a month I have this underlying feeling that it's money well spent at the end of the day - I'd sorely regret it as soon as I cancelled it and inevitably ran into a spot of bother!

Southend1

Woolwich_Kim wrote: »

I've spoken to a couple of colleagues who are members, one of them said when she don't believe unions are as effective anymore as nowadays you get so many agency workers and non union members that a strike don't have the same effect as it may have done some 30 years ago so if she was to start her career now she wouldn't bother join.

When you think about it that's a very silly argument. Why would unions be weaker today than at some other time? Because they have fewer members. So by not joining your union you are making it weaker. However, if you do join and encourage all your colleagues to do the same then you will be stronger together.

Marybelle's post is excellent, I agree with her about the insurance aspect of being a union member.

I for one would be out of a job and probably still in the middle of a total breakdown if it weren't for the support of my union.

£14-18 is well worth it for the benefits your subscription buys. You'd be foolish not to join.