Fucking unions

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

A few years ago the company i work for had a big expansion and a load of new drivers including me were taken on. The new drivers pay and perks weren’t as good as the original drivers and there’s still a few of them left. Recentlyy the company decided to increase the wages of new drivers to bring parity with the old contract and the old drivers got no extra.

One of the old drivers complained it was unfair that a load of drivers got a pay rise and he didn’t even though he was on a higher rate than us anyway. He went to the union. The company point was that it was trying to fair and pay everyone as similar a wage as it could. The union argued that everyone should get a pay rise.

The company argued that to give everyone a pay rise would just increase the unfairness and tried to give the old contracts a lower pay rise than the newer ones. The union said no. In the end the company spat it’s dummy out and said no one gets a rise. That was apparently ok with the union.

Thank you union.

2

That should do team cohesion a world of good.

If I were in your situation I’d be pretty ■■■■■■ off too.

3

Go and get a new job with better pay.

They were not trying to be fair by increasing your wages. They were simply trying to retain and recruit decent drivers.

If they have done this it means there are better jobs out there.

Also you only have half a story. A union can’t stop people getting a pay rise. They can only complain about others not getting one. The chances of the old drivers taking industrial action was next to zero and if only a few of them then the impact would be minimal.

4

classic im all right jack union procedure which is a perfect example as to how the united kingdom is now a finished country as far as industry is concerned.
ive always detested and despised everything about unions and never worked in a closed shop as they always seem to be a mixture of jobsworth petty little hitlers,lazy bone idle cretins…thats what they mean to me.

5

My sister is in Unison. Has been since the mid 80’s when she started work in the NHS

She has seen a £10k pay cut last year as our local Health Authority changed contracts. All overseen by Unison.

Unions have got us very little except endless H+S BS.

The first thing a company does when they take over a new group of employees is get close to the Union rep. 9 times out of 10 they can be bought anyway.

6

I was in various unions during my working life and my conclusion was the local reps looked after number one and no one else.

My last dealings with a union related to my pension and if I had followed the advice of the union man I would be about £40,000 out of pocket to date.

A good example of selfish union members are those in the rail unions, they couldn’t care less about their fellow workers, I’m alright Jack is their attitude.

7

It’s what unions do, the shop steward got the newest lorry and days off on pay while the minions pulled a company out of the mire

8

This never happened.

It might be in the psyche’ of TNUK trolls, but it isn’t in the dictionary of any UK unions.

9

Wouldnt be surprised in a situation like that if it was a stitchup between the union rep and management.

Rep makes a big song and dance, company makes noises as well to make it sound like they fighting back on behalf of the majority. After a while company decides to give up and gets exactly what they want and they can blame it on original drivers who they secretly want rid of to get lower paid workers.

10

Nite Owl:
A few years ago the company i work for had a big expansion and a load of new drivers including me were taken on. The new drivers pay and perks weren’t as good as the original drivers and there’s still a few of them left. Recentlyy the company decided to increase the wages of new drivers to bring parity with the old contract and the old drivers got no extra.

One of the old drivers complained it was unfair that a load of drivers got a pay rise and he didn’t even though he was on a higher rate than us anyway. He went to the union. The company point was that it was trying to fair and pay everyone as similar a wage as it could. The union argued that everyone should get a pay rise.

The company argued that to give everyone a pay rise would just increase the unfairness and tried to give the old contracts a lower pay rise than the newer ones. The union said no. In the end the company spat it’s dummy out and said no one gets a rise. That was apparently ok with the union.

Thank you union.

Where’s Rjan when we need him. :laughing: The idea of not creating wage parity,let alone when an employer offers it,totally defeats the object of unions. :open_mouth:

11

I started work as a young Lad and got paid exactly the same as the oldest ■■■■ on the firm, the longer you had been there the newer the lorry. I earned more because I got on with my job while t’others supped tea, now I drink tea [emoji23]

12

dieseldog999:
classic im all right jack union procedure which is a perfect example as to how the united kingdom is now a finished country as far as industry is concerned.
ive always detested and despised everything about unions and never worked in a closed shop as they always seem to be a mixture of jobsworth petty little hitlers,lazy bone idle cretins…thats what they mean to me.

Having had to tolerate unionised co-“workers” in the past, this is a serious +1 from me.

13

Dork Lard:
This never happened.

It might be in the psyche’ of TNUK trolls, but it isn’t in the dictionary of any UK unions.

Yes it does happen, years ago, the buses had two tier pay structures … they still do today… other companies have the same even prisons have different rates and structures etc … unions are out for themself and themselves only… the POA, RMT, are all scum unions

14

Why do you need a union, or any other type of representative for that matter? Go and see your manager and tell them you’re leaving if you don’t get parity pay with the older hands. If they value you as a worker you’ll get a raise. I’m alright jack attitudes work two ways

15

I’m alright jack seems to be the common theme, fashionable for the time it would appear.

cue staff who can’t believe how good the terms and conditions are in the unionised company they have come to work for, having had irony by-passes performed on them in early childhood the tie in between union negotiated and those good terms goes straight past them. :unamused:
so no union support from them, and they save a whole £14 a month in dues, but they don’t have any trouble pocketing the annual pay rises, nor taking full advantage (invariably being ■■■■ takers) of the full sick pay or pulling all sorts of strokes to avoid working normally, nor having their medicals, paid DCPC in work time, and all other expenses eg licence renewals medicals etc paid.
then they sidle up to us members and try to garner information about situations developing after union meetings they have no part in :unamused:

look at what has happened to drivers terms and conditions in hire and reward, pray continue, lady thatcher would be proud of you hating unions almost as much as the old tories (and blairites) :laughing:

by the way, yes i really am all right jack in my unionised job, just as the job before and the one before that, going back 3 decades and more, ta very much.
no one is forced to form a union where they work, everyone has the right to carry on being shafted left right and centre and to winge on these very pages about it endlessly.

The union is not the suits and political game players at the top of some unions, they are just more suits and generally share no interest with us plebs having long forgotten where they came from, one notable exception being the late Bob Crow of the RMT who never forgot where he came from.
the union are the members (the workers) at the branch…no different in some ways to working for a big company, the top brass of which wouldn’t know you, nor care about you, any more than a bar of soap.

The rail unions are not scum, quite the opposite, their members are the last industrial workers to enjoy top rate t’s and c’s, whilst many lorry drivers (especially in hire and reward which is on its arse) are scandalously poorly paid and have been for years, the rail unions also recommended their members to vote for Brexit, again that was in the interests of the British working class generally and certainly their own members.

16

Nite Owl:
A few years ago the company i work for had a big expansion and a load of new drivers including me were taken on. The new drivers pay and perks weren’t as good as the original drivers and there’s still a few of them left. Recentlyy the company decided to increase the wages of new drivers to bring parity with the old contract and the old drivers got no extra.

One of the old drivers complained it was unfair that a load of drivers got a pay rise and he didn’t even though he was on a higher rate than us anyway. He went to the union. The company point was that it was trying to fair and pay everyone as similar a wage as it could. The union argued that everyone should get a pay rise.

The company argued that to give everyone a pay rise would just increase the unfairness and tried to give the old contracts a lower pay rise than the newer ones. The union said no. In the end the company spat it’s dummy out and said no one gets a rise. That was apparently ok with the union.

Thank you union.

If that happened at my workplace I think Id be pretty upset, and try to get to the bottom of it. Id be having words with union and management. I reckon most of us would.

So what did your union rep actually say? What does management say?
I am assuming you spoke to him/her/them and found out what was going on?
You wouldn`t just repeat a coffee room/RDC rumour as fact would you?

17

Franglais:

Nite Owl:
A few years ago the company i work for had a big expansion and a load of new drivers including me were taken on. The new drivers pay and perks weren’t as good as the original drivers and there’s still a few of them left. Recentlyy the company decided to increase the wages of new drivers to bring parity with the old contract and the old drivers got no extra.

One of the old drivers complained it was unfair that a load of drivers got a pay rise and he didn’t even though he was on a higher rate than us anyway. He went to the union. The company point was that it was trying to fair and pay everyone as similar a wage as it could. The union argued that everyone should get a pay rise.

The company argued that to give everyone a pay rise would just increase the unfairness and tried to give the old contracts a lower pay rise than the newer ones. The union said no. In the end the company spat it’s dummy out and said no one gets a rise. That was apparently ok with the union.

Thank you union.

If that happened at my workplace I think Id be pretty upset, and try to get to the bottom of it. Id be having words with union and management. I reckon most of us would.

So what did your union rep actually say? What does management say?
I am assuming you spoke to him/her/them and found out what was going on?
You wouldn`t just repeat a coffee room/RDC rumour as fact would you?

I did speak to the union rep who told me and I quote ■■■■ off your not in the union.
As you can imagine there’s a lot of bad feeling about the place right now. Me and a few other drivers have gone to management and told them we need a meeting about this to get our facts right and clear the air. Hopefully it’ll be in the next week.

18

Firstly the rail unions get what they want because they have the leverage to get it at the expense of the travelling public.

Secondly, if unions are so wonderful where are all the industries now that were highly unionised? The motor industry, docks, shipbuilding, coalmines, steelworks to name a few are virtually if not extinct.

19

Nite Owl:
A few years ago the company i work for had a big expansion and a load of new drivers including me were taken on. The new drivers pay and perks weren’t as good as the original drivers and there’s still a few of them left. Recentlyy the company decided to increase the wages of new drivers to bring parity with the old contract and the old drivers got no extra.

One of the old drivers complained it was unfair that a load of drivers got a pay rise and he didn’t even though he was on a higher rate than us anyway. He went to the union. The company point was that it was trying to fair and pay everyone as similar a wage as it could. The union argued that everyone should get a pay rise.

The company argued that to give everyone a pay rise would just increase the unfairness and tried to give the old contracts a lower pay rise than the newer ones. The union said no. In the end the company spat it’s dummy out and said no one gets a rise. That was apparently ok with the union.

Thank you union.

Sorry to read that you had this problem a few years ago. Shows what a minefield pay negotiations can be. The union is democratic so if you don’t like them, you can sack all officials and reps. My experience of the union is wholly good. They represented me professionally and paid professionals’ expenses. When I took a problem to the employer, I was usually told to, “just get on with it.”
If I replied, “Do you mind if I fly this past the union?” I found that I immediately had the employers attention. Unity is strength.

20

I’m on a great wage with great tc’s and I put that down to our drivers being in a union 100%