Unison - joining unions?

Manxman_in_exile

Deleted_User said:

oh_really said:

Deleted_User said:

Let me tell you a dirty little secret we all at times in our life benefit from other peoples efforts that we did not contribute directly too. Also sometimes we have to sacrifice something for the benefit of others. 

So please get off your intorlent soap box.

Feel better for that?  Perhaps thet was the sound of a nerve being struck.

Soapbox, how so, you asked a question.

Go get your brasso and a cloth.

Yes struck a nerve as I have no time for individuals who try to somehow morally shame or think less of others for making choices in life that they are free to do so. 

Of course you are entitled to hold and to express that opinion.  But just because people are "free" to make certain choices in life, it doesn't necessarily follow that others are not equally free to disapprove of those choices.  Just because you disagree with that view does not make it wrong and you right.

Individual freedom to make choices is a good thing - it doesn't mean that all choices actually made are necessarily good or right.

You should try some tolerance of other's views.  (Or torlence).

SonOfPearl

outlaw777 said:

Hi is it worth joining a union like Unison? I have the opportunity to join however dont know if its worth paying the monthly fee please advise?

Everyone will have a different opinion, so it depends how you feel about it, and also where you work. Do most people belong to the union? It can be awkward if there's a prospect of industrial action and you're one of the few people not in the union. Personally, I would always join a union - the subs are pretty cheap and depend on your salary. It's a bit like insurance - you hope you won't need it, but you're glad that it's there!

https://joining.unison.org.uk/membership-rates/

Manxman_in_exile

SonOfPearl said:

Mickey666 said:

I'd have been more inclined to join a union if it wasn't for their political affiliations.

That's not to say I'm anti-Labour or pro-Conservative, indeed I rarely vote in GEs and have never done so for either of the main parties, but I don't see why 'looking after their members' requires unions to donate a portion of their members' hard-earned subscriptions to a political party. 

I haven't worked for a number of years but when I did I was a member of Unison (and later the GMB). If I recall correctly, they had a non-political membership option which didn't contribute to any political party. It might be worth the OP asking about this if it is something that would bother them. 

It's called the political levy.  If you don't want a portion of your subs going to a political party you simply opt out.

Andy_L

Mickey666 said:

I'd have been more inclined to join a union if it wasn't for their political affiliations.

That's not to say I'm anti-Labour or pro-Conservative, indeed I rarely vote in GEs and have never done so for either of the main parties, but I don't see why 'looking after their members' requires unions to donate a portion of their members' hard-earned subscriptions to a political party. 

There are several TUs that don't donate to Labour. For all the rest there is an opt out box on the membership form ( ISTR talk of that becoming an opt in option instead)

TELLIT01

Mickey666 said:

I'd have been more inclined to join a union if it wasn't for their political affiliations.

That's not to say I'm anti-Labour or pro-Conservative, indeed I rarely vote in GEs and have never done so for either of the main parties, but I don't see why 'looking after their members' requires unions to donate a portion of their members' hard-earned subscriptions to a political party. 

I also don't like the whole 'us-and-them' adversarial nature of 'up the workers' whatever havoc is wreaked in the process.  It might have been needed 150 years ago but fortunately the world of work has moved on.

As for being able to refer any employer issue to 'my union representative' there's nothing to stop non-union employees referring to 'my legal representative', ie a lawyer specialising in employment matters.  I've only had to do it once but it worked out very well for me and cost me a lot less than a lifetime of politically-tainted union subscriptions.

You can decline to pay the political affiliation proportion of union membership.

TELLIT01

I went through the vast majority of my working life without being in a union.  For much of my working life the unions were a major part of the problem rather than the solution.  I've mentioned before a situation in the 1980s where our employer offered 15% and the union took their members out on strike for an additional 1/2% more.  They were out for 3 weeks and didn't get the extra at the end of it.  Even if they had, how long would it take the members to recoup the loss?  Please don't come back with "It's a matter of principle" as the union reps were all paid in full by the union for the duration of the strike, the membership who effectively paid their wages weren't.

Back then most union leaders were more interested in bringing down the 'Capitalist system' than they were in serving their members.  I accept that things have changed but those days left a very nasty taste in the mouths of many - union members and others.

Manxman_in_exile

TELLIT01 said:

...

Back then most union leaders were more interested in bringing down the 'Capitalist system' than they were in serving their members.  I accept that things have changed but those days left a very nasty taste in the mouths of many - union members and others.

Yes - I'm afraid you are right.

I wasn't in the workplace during the worst excesses of union power (was it "power"?) as I only graduated in 1979.  But there's little doubt that lunacy like the "winter of discontent" and individuals like "Red Robbo" paved the way for a backlash against unions that led to a significant reduction in workers' rights and employment throughout most of the 80s and beyond.

During most of the late 70s the unions and the Labour Party could not have machine-gunned their own feet off more effectiively if they tried deliberately.

An unfortunate consequence of that was an increasing number of younger people in the workforce not seeing the point of being in a union - to the detriment of unions even 40 years later.

[Deleted User]

Manxman_in_exile said:

Deleted_User said:

oh_really said:

Deleted_User said:

Let me tell you a dirty little secret we all at times in our life benefit from other peoples efforts that we did not contribute directly too. Also sometimes we have to sacrifice something for the benefit of others. 

So please get off your intorlent soap box.

Feel better for that?  Perhaps thet was the sound of a nerve being struck.

Soapbox, how so, you asked a question.

Go get your brasso and a cloth.

Yes struck a nerve as I have no time for individuals who try to somehow morally shame or think less of others for making choices in life that they are free to do so. 

Of course you are entitled to hold and to express that opinion.  But just because people are "free" to make certain choices in life, it doesn't necessarily follow that others are not equally free to disapprove of those choices.  Just because you disagree with that view does not make it wrong and you right.

Individual freedom to make choices is a good thing - it doesn't mean that all choices actually made are necessarily good or right.

You should try some tolerance of other's views.  (Or torlence).

Simple is it against the law for someone not to join a union? 

If people in a union can’t convince someone to join based on the merits of being in a union then that’s the end of the matter. To then further imply that those people are somehow less of person for freely making their own mind up then I will challenge it.