Can anyone explain strikes to me please?

[Lightsandtights]

DH’s work have been balloted for strike action. I’m not going to mention the employers name on here, just in case.

Not all staff are in a union. Generally, the feeling is that it’s never been needed. We are in Scotland. We believe quite a few are union members in England though. I am not sure about the rest of the UK.

If the members vote against the proposal on the table at the moment and strikes go ahead, DH feels he can’t cross a picket line and therefore can’t go in. I feel that he’s not voted for a strike so he can go in. I have also said it’s just members who are voting to strike so they can get on with it. Can anyone explain how it works?

What is the position in his location with 100 staff members if just half a dozen union members vote to strike but 94 don’t want to and are content with the proposal on the table?

Updated to say DH is not in the union.

Thank you for helping.

Union membership is like insurance - you hope you never need it, but you'll be glad of it if you ever do.

There was no recognised union at my employer - not enough members. But I was very glad I was a member when I was (wrongly) put through a disciplinary and when they made me redundant.

But if he's not a member, he doesn't strike, whichever way the vote goes.

If he's not in the union then he's clearly not obliged to take strike action if thst is the outcome of the ballot, but if it was me, I would feel a moral obligation not to cross a picket line at my place of work. I think he should join the union if he will benefit from any improvements in conditions or salary increase that are negotiated on his behalf.

Most employees aren't in unions and are happy to negotiate their own t&C's.

Why is your DH not a member of the union?

Technically your DH could strike without being a member. Union membership is special category information and there's no reason his employer should know who is a member and who isn't. However with there being so few members it's likely they are more visible than in most employers

If he's worried about crossing the picket then he should join. Problem solved.
Exactly this.
I know you later said he never felt the need for one but that is a case if everything being good until it isn't.
My advice would be to join the union. Apart from industrial disputes unions offer a lot if really good benefits.

Let's see him refuse the improved pay and conditions that the Union members achieve for the workforce, for all the workers, not just for Union members. Oddly, that never happens, the non Unionised just stick their hands out for the pay rise and shove it in their pocket. Let others work for him. Well done.

And many places pay the same rate/give the same percentage pay rise irrespective of whether or not a person is a member of the union.

I can't understand why, if he grew up in mining area, he's not in a union.

And if the strikers are successful will he, in good consciousness, refuse the benefits gained?

He is not responsible for the actions of the union. Not everyone wishes to join a union or be party to union actions. Why this can't be respected is beyond me.

And if the strikers are successful will he, in good consciousness, refuse the benefits gained?

Let's just hope the company can afford it and they don't have to "cut costs" in the future.

Have lived through that before.

This is it. The last thing companies want to lose is staff, if sensible they will trim costs off absolutely everything before they go for staff benefits and redundancy. If staffing is on the table then strike action will only delay the inevitable, only next time it may be a worse outcome.

Actually non-union members can strike. https://www.gov.uk/industrial-action-strikes/your-employment-rights-during-industrial-action