Unions

UKtramp:
You don’t think there are any bad issues or stories about unions then rob? Well of course there will be some success stories with regards the unions, but it isn’t all good news. I could tell you a few stories of my dealings with unions that would make you think again.

I’m sure that you do have a few stories mate, and in fairness to your history you’ll probably have experienced things from your perspective that I haven’t and most likely never will. I do think though that to tarnish ALL unions as a bad thing is a tad unfair; we’ve all experienced bad service at a restaurant or a car dealer or a garage etc but it’d be unfair to say they were all bad on that basis. You have to go with your own gut instinct sometimes; I was a tanker driver during the fuel blockades and left the T&G in disgust when I perceived that they had turned against the strikers in favour of their own Knighthoods etc. That’s not to say that the T&G were bad per se, just that on that particular issue they had (in my perception) lost their way. Everyone has the right to cancel their subs and walk away, or even campaign for a change in leadership if that’s what they think is required.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’ve worked at both unionised and non unionised places and overwhelmingly have found that the better pay and conditions have been at the unionised places. That to me is the acid test my friend.