Would joining a union be worth it in this potential scenario?

EnPointe

Jude57 said:

I can't emphasise enough that the time to join the Union is before you're facing an issue with which you need their help. It's likely that you'll need to have been a member in good standing (subs up to date, no acting against the Union) for at least six months before they'll legally represent you although individual Branches may offer some limited support before that. This isn't unreasonable because otherwise, you'd be benefiting from the support and services other Union members have been paying for. Think of Union membership as an insurance policy. You hope you'll never need to claim but it's reassuring to know it's there if you need it. And like an insurance policy, you can't claim for an incident before you took out the policy. 

<snip>

One benefit of joining the Union now is that, if nothing else, you'll hear officially about any changes before non-members. If you attend Branch meetings,that is. 

This is incorrect many unions offer  repesentation, advice and legal cover from day 1  for new issues   ( although iirc Unison does have a 28 day  waiting period  - and in some NHS settings where GMB are present  GMB  tout their day 1 cover  as additional benefit  for joining  - Unison compared to  some ofthe professional unions is a different  set of priorities in the nHS)

Savvy_Sue

EnPointe said:

Jude57 said:

I can't emphasise enough that the time to join the Union is before you're facing an issue with which you need their help. It's likely that you'll need to have been a member in good standing (subs up to date, no acting against the Union) for at least six months before they'll legally represent you although individual Branches may offer some limited support before that. This isn't unreasonable because otherwise, you'd be benefiting from the support and services other Union members have been paying for. Think of Union membership as an insurance policy. You hope you'll never need to claim but it's reassuring to know it's there if you need it. And like an insurance policy, you can't claim for an incident before you took out the policy. 

<snip>

One benefit of joining the Union now is that, if nothing else, you'll hear officially about any changes before non-members. If you attend Branch meetings,that is. 

This is incorrect many unions offer  repesentation, advice and legal cover from day 1  for new issues   ( although iirc Unison does have a 28 day  waiting period  - and in some NHS settings where GMB are present  GMB  tout their day 1 cover  as additional benefit  for joining  - Unison compared to  some ofthe professional unions is a different  set of priorities in the nHS)

Well, it's worth saying too that Unison MAY bend the rules if they think it's worth their while - we were rapidly increasing membership in the workforce, and pushing for recognition. One of my colleagues had recently joined, and then had a serious disciplinary issue raised, and the Union did support and represent her. 

But it's far far better to join before you need to! 

Andy_L

ChasingtheWelshdream said:

I work for local government and there are rumours of imminent staff cuts and restructures.  So far the senior management refuse to comment or discuss, but the provisional budget implies the cuts are indeed coming.

I myself am on a fixed-term contract that may be affected - eg not renewed - and HR have confirmed I would be entitled to redeployment or redundancy settlement under my T&Cs. I am quite  happy - and would prefer - to take redundancy and not go down the redeployment route.

However, our policy states that rejection of a suitable redeployment position could forfeit the right to any redundancy settlement.

I have a good understanding of employment law and am generally willing to represent myself, but I am slightly worried that I could be forced into a redeployed position I don't want. Would it be worth joining the union (GMB I believe) in case of this event, to argue instead for redundancy? Or would it be more likely to be cut-and-dried and I would have no option to but to accept any position offered anyway?

In essence, would a union have any more clout that myself to state my case and wishes?

Ultimately they could only force you into a redeployment position until the end of your FTC. How long is left to run?

How long have you been there, what's the amount of redundancy on offer, ie whats the cost of just quitting?

ChasingtheWelshdream

Andy_L said:

How long have you been there, what's the amount of redundancy on offer, ie whats the cost of just quitting?

Long enough to make redundancy attractive, simply quitting isn’t financially viable.

happyc84

To the OP,  you could have a discussion with a Trade Union rep or go on-line, "type in what have romans  Trade unions ever done for us."