Workplace trade union

assassin12

Hi,

I recently joined a company which has a workplace trade union which is currently in negotiations with my company and our staff members.

My questions were the following:

If I'm currently in my probation period am I able to join the trade union?

If they negotiate a pay rise for all staff, will non paying union members also benefit from the raise or just union members? 

I was just looking for some pros and cons before making a decision to join or not.

Thanks  

Savvy_Sue

Pretty sure that you can join the union when you're still in your probation period, and that's an excellent time to do so.

Consider the benefits of union membership other than those you've mentioned. Any grievance, any disciplinary, you want the union on your side. Especially if you're in a public facing role.

Longwalker

You can join a union at anytime

If the company recognises the union and does their pay negotiations with them ( as this one does ) then the pay rise if for all staff

Not all unions have the same clout and a lot of employers by pass the unions and offer pay rises direct. Unions arent just about pay rises. Read up on what the union offers its members as part of their fees and decide 

Wyndham

You do get the benefit of a union negotiated payrise even if you are not in the union. So no, you don't have to be a member. But, the more members that the union has in the workplace, the more influence it can have in the negotiations, which can affect the level of the rise.

You also get lots of protections from the union. They are on your side. HR departments are NOT on your side, even if they want you to believe that.

I was made redundant (some years ago now), and it was an awful, badly managed, process. I had the union with me, and it was helpful. The outcome was the same, but at least in the midst of the pain I felt that I did have someone on my side. I also know that they fed back on the process and things were improved (at least slightly) for the next round.

Jude57

And remember, it will be too late to join the union once a disciplinary process has begun or you have another issue with your employment. Think of it as being like an insurance policy - you pay your premiums and hope you'll never have to claim but it's reassuring to know you can if you need to.

Even if you don't stay with that employer, you can still remain a union member (unions aren't specific to one employer) and while you might want to move to a different union in a new workplace, if you're in the same type of employment, you might not need to. You would just transfer your membership to the new branch.