Unions

In recent months I’ve become jaded with the flat to the mat 4 nights out bulk tipper lifestyle.
So made some calls and found what looked to be a decent job imo. (Own account, salaried 33k, 4 on 4 off, 48 hours a week, permanent 1 PM start, no nights out)
Passed assessment/ interview and have accepted the job and start next week.
The job is heavily unionised. Driver assessor is a union rep. I spotted several drivers strutting around in their union branded hi viz and when in signing my contract this morning I was handed the union paperwork at the same time.
I’ve never been a member of a union nor have I ever worked anywhere that there has been a union presence.

My questions are:

Is it worth the £20 or so every month?
As a driver has being a member ever done anything for you?
Am I likely to be treated as a scab for not bothering to sign up?

I’ve read their website but at the end of the day they’re trying to sell you a product I’m looking for opinions form a less biased source.
I’m inclined to just sign up to save from any grief further down the line but I’m not interested in attending meetings or any of that nonsense.
I like to go to work, do the job and go home with no politics or unnecessary hassle.

I would hazard that as they are heavily unionised, that is why the job is decent.

In your words of course.

I’d jump at the chance of working for a unionised own account driving job.

Yes being a union member has resulted in me getting class leading terms and conditions, as said there might be a clue why the job your are going to is at the better end.

Of course the non union members get the same pay increases and improvements union members do, though they often turn out to be the ones gobbing off about the pay increase not good enough etc etc :unamused: , personally i couldn’t really accept other people’s union contributions and activity at meetings resulting in me getting the ££ results of their efforts if i didn’t do my share, but it takes all sorts.

My subs are about £13 a month to Unite, worth every penny, pay rise every year.

harrawaffa:
In recent months I’ve become jaded with the flat to the mat 4 nights out bulk tipper lifestyle.
So made some calls and found what looked to be a decent job imo. (Own account, salaried 33k, 4 on 4 off, 48 hours a week, permanent 1 PM start, no nights out)
Passed assessment/ interview and have accepted the job and start next week.
The job is heavily unionised. Driver assessor is a union rep. I spotted several drivers strutting around in their union branded hi viz and when in signing my contract this morning I was handed the union paperwork at the same time.
I’ve never been a member of a union nor have I ever worked anywhere that there has been a union presence.

My questions are:

Is it worth the £20 or so every month?
As a driver has being a member ever done anything for you?
Am I likely to be treated as a scab for not bothering to sign up?

I’ve read their website but at the end of the day they’re trying to sell you a product I’m looking for opinions form a less biased source.
I’m inclined to just sign up to save from any grief further down the line but I’m not interested in attending meetings or any of that nonsense.
I like to go to work, do the job and go home with no politics or unnecessary hassle.

On the face of it the t.s and c.s don’t sound too bad, maybe that’s BECAUSE it’s a Union co. :bulb:
There’s a lot of strong anti Union feeling on here mate (mostly by those who learned at school about 70s Unions)

Best to make your own mind up, but I bet the job aint like your last ‘flat to the mat’ rat race type job…again BECAUSE of their Union.

Get your hand in yer pocket you tight fisted 2at :grimacing:

£20 to be part of the union is money well spent. Get some fingerless gloves and a black beanie hat. Practice hurling eggs and screaming " SCAB " as loud as possible.

(Make sure you don’t upset any snowflakes though, you wouldn’t want to be accused of bullying :laughing: )

Harrawaffa I think you’ve seen too many old shows from the 70’s and read to much of our anti worker media.
Do you really think by joining the union you’ll be sat outside on the picket line every week or stood in the company yard voting to go on strike?

However the success or otherwise of a union relys on its members taking an interest, so you should at least take an interest in the issues raised and those who put themselves forward to represent you, or you end up with the political fire brand or the management poodle, neither will benefit you as a worker who just wants to do a decent days work for decent pay and conditions.

muckles:
Harrawaffa I think you’ve seen too many old shows from the 70’s and read to much of our anti worker media.
Do you really think by joining the union you’ll be sat outside on the picket line every week or stood in the company yard voting to go on strike?

However the success or otherwise of a union relys on its members taking an interest, so you should at least take an interest in the issues raised and those who put themselves forward to represent you, or you end up with the political fire brand or the management poodle, neither will benefit you as a worker who just wants to do a decent days work for decent pay and conditions.

It’s the result of the successful anti Union brainwash agenda by the 80s Tory Government to keep us in our place, do away with any resistance,.and to vitrtually eradicate any worker’s rights. :smiling_imp:
The gravy train officials of some unions are one thing, but people, forget that a union is just a group of workers who have united for a common goal, to receive fair treatment and good t.s and c.s, not the Anti Christ pariahs that some on here think they are. :unamused:

^^^ exactly.

Forget the suited top union brass more concerned with getting comrade corbyn and his disciples into power than they are looking after their members…there are always exceptions to this like the late Bob Crowe, who never forgot where he came from nor who he represented.

Generally these people are no more the union than our politicians are leaders/defenders of our country.
Its the men and women who elect their reps, pay their dues, take an interest, put their views, vote for or against agreements/offers, who are the union.

Unions aren’t perfect nothing is.But it’s more a mindset in which solidarity and realisation that the employers’ interests’ are in most cases opposed to those of ‘the workers’ is everything.In which case that solidarity is all you have acting on your side and a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. :bulb:

My lot keep telling me that working here is the best job they’ve ever had and we aren’t unionised, so it doesn’t mean that not being unionised means bad working conditions.

They are free to join a union, I think one is in a union. But it wouldn’t result in better conditions.

As for watching 70s newsreels about unions, well I remember the Dockers at Liverpool and the violence and intimidation is something I will always remember. Of course that doesn’t reflect all unions or arguably any union now, but I’d rather have stuck pins in my eyes than have joined one. Also, being a peculiarly independent git, I try not to join much at all.

Appreciate the replies.
Reading my op makes it seem like I just phoned a company and pulled this great job out of thin air. Not the case I have a friend who works there. He put me in contact with the TM.
This job is still ABP work which will make it far less appealing to most but it’s what I’ve done for most of my short driving career and the material doesn’t bother me.

I’m wary of Union membership because of how a family member was treated during a 3 month strike. Faced with losing her home she went back to work and this resulted in a 2 year vendetta against her which ultimately resulted in her being forced out of her job by militant union members and she’s never worked in that sector again. This was over 10 years ago now so things might have changed.

Join, £20 a month seems a bit steep, but I’m sure it will be worth it. In my experience being in a union gives individuals a voice, individual branches have their own way of doing things, it’s not always about being dictated to from on high by faceless union big wigs, run sensibley and reasonably and with the participation of staff and management unions are a great way to improve and maintain working conditions.

MickM

You can all kid yourselves on as much as you like that being in a union is somehow protecting you and your interests. Companies are no longer afraid of the unions and the unions have very little power over them. They are more like lawyers nowadays and looking out for themselves. The members of the unions (you) are even more afraid of losing their jobs and dare not rock the boat, wait until you end up in a situation that you need your mates and the union to stand by you, you will be sadly disappointed. The union rep will be on the lookout for himself and the union are doing the same thing, what are you left with? A bunch of lads who dare not say boo to a ghost. Union or no union, you are on your own. A complete waste of time.

keep your 20 quid in your pocket.ive only worked a cpl places where the word union was mentioned.my own opinion is that they are the reason of the demise of every aspect of britain today and i despise everything about them.workshy good for nothing lazy bone idle gits…similar to what that foreign wifey mp misses chapati or whatever was on about in that other anti brit post.to me,it was the union type companies to whom she was referring to.

harrawaffa:
Appreciate the replies.
Reading my op makes it seem like I just phoned a company and pulled this great job out of thin air. Not the case I have a friend who works there. He put me in contact with the TM.
This job is still ABP work which will make it far less appealing to most but it’s what I’ve done for most of my short driving career and the material doesn’t bother me.

I’m wary of Union membership because of how a family member was treated during a 3 month strike. Faced with losing her home she went back to work and this resulted in a 2 year vendetta against her which ultimately resulted in her being forced out of her job by militant union members and she’s never worked in that sector again. This was over 10 years ago now so things might have changed.

Bearing in mind that the whole point of the strike is to boycott an employer and ensure that work doesn’t get done until they accept the terms of the workforce, how would you propose that such a bitter strike should have been conducted?

UKtramp:
You can all kid yourselves on as much as you like that being in a union is somehow protecting you and your interests. Companies are no longer afraid of the unions and the unions have very little power over them. They are more like lawyers nowadays and looking out for themselves. The members of the unions (you) are even more afraid of losing their jobs and dare not rock the boat, wait until you end up in a situation that you need your mates and the union to stand by you, you will be sadly disappointed. The union rep will be on the lookout for himself and the union are doing the same thing, what are you left with? A bunch of lads who dare not say boo to a ghost. Union or no union, you are on your own. A complete waste of time.

I think it depends what sector of work. When JLR had the idea of scrapping the final salary pension for the old boys, all it took was the Union to threaten an overtime ban for them to back down.

The same union has secured me nearly 10% in pay rises the last 3 years with £500-750+ cash bonus’s for signing the new pay deals.

another 4.5% increase from the 1st of next month too.

Unions aint all that bad in my experience.

Rjan:

harrawaffa:
Appreciate the replies.
Reading my op makes it seem like I just phoned a company and pulled this great job out of thin air. Not the case I have a friend who works there. He put me in contact with the TM.
This job is still ABP work which will make it far less appealing to most but it’s what I’ve done for most of my short driving career and the material doesn’t bother me.

I’m wary of Union membership because of how a family member was treated during a 3 month strike. Faced with losing her home she went back to work and this resulted in a 2 year vendetta against her which ultimately resulted in her being forced out of her job by militant union members and she’s never worked in that sector again. This was over 10 years ago now so things might have changed.

Bearing in mind that the whole point of the strike is to boycott an employer and ensure that work doesn’t get done until they accept the terms of the workforce, how would you propose that such a bitter strike should have been conducted?

If a union cannot sort out a problem and the workforce has to go on strike for 3 months. That is a loss of 3 months earnings in which the members are put through hardship and then is forced to return to work due to a lack of money, there will not be many who would wish to strike again. The employer is now in an even stronger position than before.

Where I work the day men get a guaranteed 10 hours pay just for putting their card in, the trampers a guaranteed 12 hours. If I run in on a Saturday I get a guaranteed 10 hours at time and a half. If I have a doctors/hospital/dentist appointment I get 10 hours pay and the day off. If I’m on the sick I get the same average pay as if I was on holiday. I get medicals, eyetests, DCPC, eyeglasses paid for. Whatever percentage of my wage I put into a pension is matched by the company (up to 15%).

Do you think this is because I work for a forward thinking and caring employer, or do you think it’s because I work at a place that has a strong union that works hand in hand with the Co for the benefit of all? Make your own minds up.

It’s worth it for the legal cover.