Unite do it again!

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

So Unite ride to the rescue at Grangemouth because that nasty unfeeling multinational company wants to close a place that is losing £10 million a month, Unite have offered concessions with pay cuts and reduced pension contributions and are stunned that the company will probably still close the site, but ‘Unite now accepts concessions’!

Lets get this straight, ‘intransigence’ by the Union led them to this situation, the ‘wages and pensions are the envy of the area’ and lo and behold the Unite convenor is the ‘controversial’ member who was embroiled in the vote and labour candidate fiasco.

Unite are a total shambles, ‘run’ by clueless egotistic wannabes who have no concept of reality and what a working man needs or has to put up with. No doubt the union made their usual spurious claims and false promises and it will be everyone else’s fault.

Keep up the good work Len, as f*** ups go you are legendary!

2

I doubt McCluskey gives a [zb] about the workers, after all he’s on £122000 plus expenses etc a year.

3

Regardless of the wishes of Unite it would be the workforce that VOTED to reject the terms that the company put forward. The workers many be on good money but very few people will accept a drop in pay without putting up a fight, I know I didn’t when my company tried it on. It looks like Ineos are the Ryanair of the petro-chemical industry, they screw every last drop of cost out of the operation that they can, and in that way they keep sites open that nobody else can. At the end of the day the union and workforce know how they stand, and haven’t sold themselves short. They’ve pushed it as far as possible, but they know that in the coming years they will have to take more and more hits to their terms and conditions.

4

manic-merc:
‘run’ by clueless egotistic wannabes who have no concept of reality and what a working man needs or has to put up with.

Isn’t that every Union?

5

I think the unions had ideas of been able bring the country to its knees like in the 70s when this government got power but i guess in todays global economy its not quite that easy

6

it would be the workforce that VOTED to reject the terms that the company put forward

I’m sure that they did, under instruction of their shop stewards who would have been full of stand up and fight rhetoric. I have been in that situation, where a 10% pay cut was asked for. The unions was ‘leave it with us lads, we’ll show them who’s boss’. We all got made redundant!

I am fairly certain that when a company approaches its workforce and asks them to take a pay cut, they have a very good reason in doing so no doubt. However the socialist loony toons that are union reps would have you believe that they are robbing you for their own benefit.

I have always wondered how a guy doing the same job as me, who then gets voted into a shop steward position and beyond becomes instantly qualified to comment on and indeed run a company better than the people trained and with the experience to do so?

As for offering concessions, (when they have absolutely no choice whatsoever!), the following works spring to mind horse - bolted - door - shut!

Everything this union touches they ruin, the tanker drivers in Essex last year is a classic point in case, rig the ballot for strike, make loads of noise in the media, get caught, new ballot no strike, lose the will and support of members, lose all credibility and crawl back under a stone.

Red Len :confused:

7

Didn’t they refuse a pay freeze and annual salary cap?

I’ve heard they are over payed anyway, and aren’t having to put insane hours in to make a slice

And the salary cap sounds worse than it is, after hearing the wages some of them are taking home…

8

manic-merc:

it would be the workforce that VOTED to reject the terms that the company put forward

I’m sure that they did, under instruction of their shop stewards who would have been full of stand up and fight rhetoric. I have been in that situation, where a 10% pay cut was asked for. The unions was ‘leave it with us lads, we’ll show them who’s boss’. We all got made redundant!

I am fairly certain that when a company approaches its workforce and asks them to take a pay cut, they have a very good reason in doing so no doubt. However the socialist loony toons that are union reps would have you believe that they are robbing you for their own benefit.

I have always wondered how a guy doing the same job as me, who then gets voted into a shop steward position and beyond becomes instantly qualified to comment on and indeed run a company better than the people trained and with the experience to do so?

As for offering concessions, (when they have absolutely no choice whatsoever!), the following works spring to mind horse - bolted - door - shut!

Everything this union touches they ruin, the tanker drivers in Essex last year is a classic point in case, rig the ballot for strike, make loads of noise in the media, get caught, new ballot no strike, lose the will and support of members, lose all credibility and crawl back under a stone.

Red Len :confused:

According to the press, 50% of the work force wanted to accept what was offered to save their jobs! Wether that’s true? Who knows.
They were wrong to call a strike with a 50-50 split,seems that unite had a personal vendetta against the company, because of 1 man who happens to be a union rep!

9

manic-merc:

it would be the workforce that VOTED to reject the terms that the company put forward

I’m sure that they did, under instruction of their shop stewards who would have been full of stand up and fight rhetoric. I have been in that situation, where a 10% pay cut was asked for. The unions was ‘leave it with us lads, we’ll show them who’s boss’. We all got made redundant!

I am fairly certain that when a company approaches its workforce and asks them to take a pay cut, they have a very good reason in doing so no doubt. However the socialist loony toons that are union reps would have you believe that they are robbing you for their own benefit.

I have always wondered how a guy doing the same job as me, who then gets voted into a shop steward position and beyond becomes instantly qualified to comment on and indeed run a company better than the people trained and with the experience to do so?

As for offering concessions, (when they have absolutely no choice whatsoever!), the following works spring to mind horse - bolted - door - shut!

Everything this union touches they ruin, the tanker drivers in Essex last year is a classic point in case, rig the ballot for strike, make loads of noise in the media, get caught, new ballot no strike, lose the will and support of members, lose all credibility and crawl back under a stone.

Red Len :confused:

to quote you Weeto you are certain that when a company approaches its workforce to take a pay cut it they have a very good reason no doubt you are very naïve if you think this is the case it is a great opportunity for a company to reduce its cost at the same time increasing profits and subsequently increasing shareholder dividend.

You complain that you got made redundant because you refused to take a 10% reduction in wages doesn’t it spring to mind if you had accepted a 10% cut that you still may have been made redundant and then would have had your redundancy pay reduced by yes 10%.

if you would have accepted 10% pay cut and your employer comes back in six months time and wants another 10% cut in wages do you stand ideally by and agree at what point do you stand up for yourself or do you just except been a volunteer in the race to the bottom and eventually the national minimum wage.

Union officials are elected not as you put it to run a company but to serve the interests to the best of their ability their members if your not at all happy with them why don’t you stand for election and try and do any better.

Who do you blame for all the problems in the haulage industry for poor pay poor working conditions 15 hour days all the issues that go with agencies etc.

Unions are not all great but the only organisations that give it a go at standing up for workers and unions are only as good as the members make them example railway workers and the RMT

10

No matter who was the instigator of the current fiasco, I suggest that both the union and management are rubbing their hands with glee and slapping each other on the back tonight. We have not yet learned just how many millions the government has promised to pour into the place over the next five-or-so years.
Same old story- both sides are happy, taxpayer picks up the bill.
The more things change, the more things stay as they are.

11

off of grangmouth topic , but in my opinion it was unite that messed up coop and keeping there transport in house , ie andover and avonmouth , i was working at coop chelston and the union (unite) had the place in there pocket so can see why when the place shut the (coop) went out of house and with normandoeshetangle they probably save billions in a ten year period with out unite sticking there nose in !!!

12

Ive never been in a union and never would !

13

There was only ever going to be one winner at Grangemouth ,lessons not learned from 1984 miners strike enough said .

14

It’s because so many people in the road haulage industry (and other industries) won’t stand up for themselves or support their fellow workers that there are so many posts about the crap wages in road haulage industry. As soon as anyone stands up to be counted like the folks at Grangemouth they start getting slagged off. To say that you would never join a Trade Union puts you in the same bracket as a Turkey voting for christmas. I voted for Jerry Hicks who advocated average wage for General Secretaries job not Len McClusky who wanted ( and got) 6x that. Discuss.

15

It’s not about standing up for yourself & your fellow workers, it’s purely business, business is cut throat.

No business pays its employees more than it needs to in order to get the quality of employee it desires. Capitalism can be a harsh master.

If the lads at Grangemouth don’t want to work there anymore they can go elsewhere can’t they, it’s still a free market & a free country.

I think the main issue here is that the lads up there are on a cracking screw anyway & Ineos want to put the brakes on its payroll costs, the lads got greedy & nearly paid the ultimate price. You can usually get away with being greedy if you’re holding the shakels.

I think most people are so incensed by this as most in the country are struggling financially at the moment and these are moaning about a fairly minor dent in their already good conditions.

16

oldhippyandy:
It’s because so many people in the road haulage industry (and other industries) won’t stand up for themselves or support their fellow workers that there are so many posts about the crap wages in road haulage industry. As soon as anyone stands up to be counted like the folks at Grangemouth they start getting slagged off.

Got to agree with you mate, too many drivers today are too willing to bend over and take it up the arse when it comes to their employers, that is why for one example we are not only working 15 hr days, but working those 15hrs for what should be 10 hrs wages :unamused:
Unfortunately the words “Trade Union” became dirty after the 70s when the tables were turned to the point where they called the shots, and nobody in their right minds really wants to go back to those days.
Trade Unions have also done a lot of good historically, ie paid holidays, sick pay etc, but the 70s thing has overshadowed this in peoples minds.
The Labour Party as far as I know originated from the Unions dedicated to the working man’s rights, but they have lost the plot :unamused: , so basically we are out there on our own in this industry.
It aint gonna happen I know, but if all drivers stood up for a fair rate of pay and better conditions things WOULD improve, and even if the Grangemouth guys are on good money already it’s because they demanded it by standing up for themselves, addmittedly they got carried away and maybe a bit greedy and unrealistic.
So those on here that knock the working people that do possess a pair, have a think about it while touching your toes with your kecks round your ankles.

17

what…exactly does standing up for yourself mean?

boss,i want more money.
you can`t have any
ok,i quit
see ya then.

and anyway…going by the number of people who openly mock another man for the rates he earns…it does`t sound like there is too much of a problem anyway.

sounds to me like you`re all raking it in :sunglasses:

18

manic-merc:
So Unite ride to the rescue at Grangemouth because that nasty unfeeling multinational company wants to close a place that is losing £10 million a month, Unite have offered concessions with pay cuts and reduced pension contributions and are stunned that the company will probably still close the site, but ‘Unite now accepts concessions’!

Lets get this straight, ‘intransigence’ by the Union led them to this situation, the ‘wages and pensions are the envy of the area’ and lo and behold the Unite convenor is the ‘controversial’ member who was embroiled in the vote and labour candidate fiasco.

Unite are a total shambles, ‘run’ by clueless egotistic wannabes who have no concept of reality and what a working man needs or has to put up with. No doubt the union made their usual spurious claims and false promises and it will be everyone else’s fault.

Keep up the good work Len, as f*** ups go you are legendary!

union’s are a total waste of space. who made the dock’s go bust the union.s they are just grabbing useless idiot’s and most of the time the rep.s are up the management’s arse sat in the office drinking coffee. last time i got union representation i told him to get out the meeting totally clueless sat there like an ill bird.

19

viking35dp:

manic-merc:

it would be the workforce that VOTED to reject the terms that the company put forward

I’m sure that they did, under instruction of their shop stewards who would have been full of stand up and fight rhetoric. I have been in that situation, where a 10% pay cut was asked for. The unions was ‘leave it with us lads, we’ll show them who’s boss’. We all got made redundant!

I am fairly certain that when a company approaches its workforce and asks them to take a pay cut, they have a very good reason in doing so no doubt. However the socialist loony toons that are union reps would have you believe that they are robbing you for their own benefit.

I have always wondered how a guy doing the same job as me, who then gets voted into a shop steward position and beyond becomes instantly qualified to comment on and indeed run a company better than the people trained and with the experience to do so?

As for offering concessions, (when they have absolutely no choice whatsoever!), the following works spring to mind horse - bolted - door - shut!

Everything this union touches they ruin, the tanker drivers in Essex last year is a classic point in case, rig the ballot for strike, make loads of noise in the media, get caught, new ballot no strike, lose the will and support of members, lose all credibility and crawl back under a stone.

Red Len :confused:

to quote you Weeto you are certain that when a company approaches its workforce to take a pay cut it they have a very good reason no doubt you are very naïve if you think this is the case it is a great opportunity for a company to reduce its cost at the same time increasing profits and subsequently increasing shareholder dividend.

You complain that you got made redundant because you refused to take a 10% reduction in wages doesn’t it spring to mind if you had accepted a 10% cut that you still may have been made redundant and then would have had your redundancy pay reduced by yes 10%.

if you would have accepted 10% pay cut and your employer comes back in six months time and wants another 10% cut in wages do you stand ideally by and agree at what point do you stand up for yourself or do you just except been a volunteer in the race to the bottom and eventually the national minimum wage.

Union officials are elected not as you put it to run a company but to serve the interests to the best of their ability their members if your not at all happy with them why don’t you stand for election and try and do any better.

Who do you blame for all the problems in the haulage industry for poor pay poor working conditions 15 hour days all the issues that go with agencies etc.

Unions are not all great but the only organisations that give it a go at standing up for workers and unions are only as good as the members make them example railway workers and the RMT

What ya quoting me for?

20

commonrail:
what…exactly does standing up for yourself mean?

boss,i want more money.
you can`t have any
ok,i quit
see ya then.

and anyway…going by the number of people who openly mock another man for the rates he earns…it does`t sound like there is too much of a problem anyway.

sounds to me like you`re all raking it in :sunglasses:

on the same vein, i’ve asked in the past what is exactly meant by sticking together, i didn’t get an answer!