Strikes how do unions work?

[alasangne]

I've never been in a union there isn't one for my profession. How do they work? Are all the royal mail post people automatically put in a union when they join? And if they don't want to strike do they have to or the union fires them?

@Stompythedinosaur totally agree. I don't particularly want to go on strike but we've just had an over 90% yes for strike action - so go on strike I will.

I'm not letting my colleagues loose money on my behalf and then reaping the rewards for it down the line.

A few years ago we decided between us not to work any overtime. Not strike action. Just work our set days and hours.

It got the desired result but the few people that came in and worked all the overtime available, were never thought of the same again. And all of them have since left.

The problem is that if you belong to a general union and there is no union in your own workplace it's very difficult to get much support. You may have one person working for a whole region. When I needed help, I was referred to the union's lawyers who were terrible. I'd think you have more support if there is a shop steward in your own workplace who can accompany you to disciplinaries etc.

In some countries, people are still imprisoned or even killed for being trade union reps or members.
On the other hand, in many European countries, unions are a totally normal part of the economy and are generally supported by the population. Where I live in the EU, you wouldn't see the kind of media interviews of trade union leaders that you see in the UK.

www.tuc.org.uk/join-a-union

here is a website to search for a union that is appropriate for your job

I have been on strike, my line manager wasn't allowed to ask me if I was going on strike and I didn't need to call in and tell work I wasn't coming in.

I didn't get paid of the day, I was not allowed to book annual leave either - though if annual leave had already been booked prior to that particular day being choosen for the strike that would be acceptable.

I had to pay a % of my salary to the union to be a member. They represented me on two occasions, both times for absence from work. On both occasions they pulled up my line managers for not following the correct procedures and made them alter the way they handled the case. If I had not had them in to represent me I would have not known this and just blithely followed what my line manager had done. This was two different line managers over a 17 year period. The inion rep sat silent until the end of the meeting and that was when the line manager asked if they were happy with the outcome they said no as the rules hadn't been followed.

I'd think you have more support if there is a shop steward in your own workplace who can accompany you to disciplinaries etc.

I agree, but it's not an option in all workplaces, and I'd say a regional union rep is better than none. In my case they were excellent. I've also heard from those whose in-house rep was awful - it's like any sort of role dependent on individuals and human relations, like teaching, GPs, counsellors, etc. Some will be brilliant, some will be terrible, most will be good enough, and usually, you have limited or no choice over which you get.

in the 1960 there were very strong unions and this meant that there what was referred to as a "closed shop" it meant to get a job in a particular factory (for example) you had to be put forward by someone that already worked there and you had to join the union.

During the 1970s this changed and the rules were changed, by 1980s Mrs T certainly took away power from the unions and imo to far, some rules did need changing but it swung to far away form the unions having medium power and now we are where we are.

In 1981 my father was earning £12000 per annum as unskilled labour. The average wage 40 years later is £23k so not double. A house would have cost
£15k for a terrace two bed in my area, now it would cost £400k for the same house.

The Labour Party was started in the 1920s for the labour of the country, the workers. So they had representation in government, but Starmer warned his MPs they'd be sacked if they showed up on a picket line...

I agree, but it's not an option in all workplaces, and I'd say a regional union rep is better than none.

my was a regional union rep who represented many different workplaces and was great

‘Ok so they can strike even not in a union that's good to know’. This came up at a recent chapel meeting at my work. The advice was that you could be found to be in breach of your contract and subject to disciplinary action in these circumstances, so you’d need to take advice beforehand.

Yeah I was in a couple of unions where they did that but in my last job the union rep encouraged me to set up a DD instead so the company wouldn’t know I was a member. To be fair it can be in an employee’s interests for the employer to know.

This is just plain wrong

www.gov.uk/if-your-business-faces-industrial-action/nonunion-employees-and-strikes

"If non-union members go on strike, they are protected from dismissal and have the same rights as union members, as long as the industrial action is lawful"

I became TU rep in my job because no one else wanted to do it and the management are known for trying to shaft us. We’re potentially going to have strike action in the new year but the only problem is I genuinely cannot afford to strike. I had to stretch myself to get on the housing ladder and my mortgage is a huge proportion of my take home. I am just going to have to keep it quiet from my colleagues. Thankfully we mostly wfh so they will never know.

Didn’t mean to kill the thread! 😅

Anyone else just hear Mick Lynch on the Today prog - absolutely brilliant !

It's not so much killing the thread, it's killing the very ethos of Trades Unions.

You need to leave the Union and join one which does not strike (or has non-binding strikes)

Sorry to sound cross with you, but when even the union reps are strike-breakers, then there is no hope for the future of collective action.

It seems the striking people don't get much compensation from their unions while on strike, yet the union bosses are on big bucks.
What would be an effective method to protest this injustice?

No point being in a union then.

Unions vary a lot. My two semi functional
options include one that charges close to £400 a year and has a terrible track record (and for many instances has to represent employer and employee as both can be members under certain circumstances). The other is about £150 a year, much more militant, but not tax deductible.

Unison and various others will accept our money but have an unspeakably poor reputation due to a lack of sector specific experience.

When things hit the fan, having a Union on your side who understands HR issues, the law etc can really help you know your rights and fight your case.

Same here, my union pays 200 euros a day strike pay. Seems unions are much better here than in the UK, I get free travel insurance on mine, reduced price for other insurances, and the union owns holiday apartments and summer cottages around the country and in the next country that you can book at very reasonable rates. Cheaper petrol and heating oil too. I pay 1% of my salary (and the payment is tax deductible so works out less) and includes the unemployment fund which pays out for 300-500 days (depending on length of service). And of course they negotiate salary and benefits regularly (agreements last two years I think then a new agreement has to be negotiated)

With those benefits you'd definitely show your solidarity when your union strikes! (which happens fairly regularly here, not the same unions every time of course but there's always some union or other striking every year, this year there's been a lot including nursing and carers strikes)

I watched Enemy of the State doc on YouTube yesterday with my dad, unrecognizable to today's attitudes. Recommend it to put current actions in a different perspective.

@Honeyroar XXXX

😘

I don't see it as selfish because I didn't vote for strike action. In my line of work there are lots of members like me who choose not to strike because by striking you are "unnecessarily" impacting non members by making them do all of your work, which needs to be done, regardless of whether you are in work or not. However if I did another role in my line of work where what I did/didn't do had a more direct impact on stake holders/influencers rather than my immediate team then I would strike. This is an unwritten rule of being in a union in my industry.

@brainstories568 I think you're entirely missing the point of a union.

Well there isn’t anything you can do really. The general secretary’s of the large unions are on decent salaries, obviously paid for by the union members.
To justify their salaries, the union secretaries would say they do lots of work for their members.
Union bosses are elected, they can’t just do the job.
Most work places unions reps are elected too by their colleagues.
So to answer your question, yes the big
bosses are on good salaries, union members accept this as part of being in the union.