To be in a union but not out on strike tomorrow?

[ILovePud]

I'm an NHS clinician and my union has called a strike tomorrow. Strikes have not usually been well supported in my work place and I already had a clinic booked tomorrow. We all had to notify our management last week whether we would be striking and I said no. I felt uncomfortable with the idea of having to contact specific patients and cancel their appointments in a way that I wouldn't have done if it was a case of just omitting to book that clinic. I've become increasingly uncomfortable with this decision over the weekend as I've had some contact with colleagues and it seems that many of them will be striking and that there will be a picket line. I'll have to go in now and feel like I'm in a lose lose situation where I'm either letting down patients or letting down my colleagues. My colleagues are lovely people and none of them are going to have a go at me though there may be some more subtle guilt tripping. The strike's been called over the 1% pay rise offer rather than wider issues and whilst I think this is a crap offer compared with some of the other service issues in the local NHS at the moment this seems like small potatoes, for me at least. My reasons for being a union member have always been more about having access to support in the event of potential employment problems rather than collective bargaining, though obviously if they pay offer gets upped I'll feel the benefit of this along with everyone else and I do feel a bit bad about that. Am I being unreasonable to not be striking?

BTW thanks Soon and WooWoo, it'd feel awful to get unanimous YABU responses.

YANBU.

It's your conscience.

I agree it's v unreasonable to want the union to support you in times of need but not be prepared to support collective action. Unions are not an insurance policy, they are about ordinary people working together to improve conditions for everyone.

More awful than crossing a picket line?

Yoni I agree but it seems a significant number of people don't understand that.

I'll have to cross the picket line tomorrow, though I'm dreading it now! Not sure how crossing a picket line will feel for service users, doesn't really sit well with me to have this outside a hospital. The strike isn't for the whole day, I'd only ever have been withholding labour for a couple of hours, I'll have a think about your suggestion Sooty.

YANBU. I'm a clinician as well altho not in a union and some people wait 12 weeks to see me, I'd find it hard to tell them "oh unlucky that your 12 weeks has coincided with this". It's different if you could be covered by a locum or a generalist but if you're a specialist then it's shit for patients. YANBU.

Yanbu OP, I work in the nhs as well. I am not striking as I'm not in unison I'm with a different Union. Quite a few of my colleagues are striking which we are all supporting. However one of my colleagues is in a similar position to you and has a clinic that she is unable to cancel. We all agree she is doing the right thing by the patients by not striking. She is planning on working to rule though which has been suggested by the unison rep as he recognises it is not possible for her to strike. I think some of the comments have been a little harsh. Good luck tomorrow.

It doesn't sound like you did it for malicious reasons at all Pud, although I really, really don't envy you having to cross the picket line!

On a general note and not directed at you, OP: I wouldn't exactly ostracize a co-worker for opting out of the strike, but I probably wouldn't be too happy about it. I think that if you're lucky enough to have the option to be in a union which stands up for you when needed, you need to support it and your fellow members as well. Even if it isn't a huge issue to you, it's unfair to not join in, but reap the benefits anyway.
Basically, what Yoni said!

Personally i wouldnt feel comfortable crossing a picket line but that is a matter for your own conscience. I will be on strike and on the picket line tomorrow but some of my colleagues have to be work in order to prevent patient safety being compromised. It has been agreed that these colleagues will work wearing a badge which states that they support the strike but they are unable to participate. Would something similar work for you?

I was recently involved in a major teachers' strike and it surprised me how many people don't seem to really understand what trade unions and striking are about. I don't know if it has always been that way or if it is a sign of our times, but I think unions and union members have a job to do informing people about what they are doing.

Actually I'm yanbu as well. Way back I was a union member and it was tremendously helpful when I was ill treated by management. Nevertheless the experience was enough to put me off from ever working in the public sector ever again.

In some areas of employment there are no other options than the main union if you want the support. How many times have we told an OP who's come on here asking for support when being bullied or otherwise ill treated in the workplace to get her union to help her? Teachers have a reasonable span of unions available but a lot of health workers seem to have UNISON or nothing.

But she isn't unable to strike on safety grounds. She's chosen not to.

So you think unions should support individuals when it suits them and the individual should give nothing back to the union? Striking is one of a unions most powerful possible actions when in a conflict with an employer. If union members do not support collective action, the union is ineffective. Why then should employers be interested in what union representatives say? The representatives have no power without the collective force of the union. So by opting out of supporting your union, you are weakening the position of the person you expect to fight your corner when you are having difficulties at work.

YANBU, lots of people join unions purely for the protection (mostly those who work in schools).

YABVVU and selfish. But hey, have fun tomorrow walking past those people prepared to make a stand for your pay rise.

Siarie they're unions not insurance policies.

I'm going to start a thread tomorrow.

"AIBU that I've waited three months to see my consultant and they were on strike."

I won't bcse I'm too lazy but when you know that your actions affect the individual, it's more difficult.

Agree with a previous poster in that there's a name for what you're doing!.

You can't be in a Union because you think you'll need the benefits one day but not support them when they need you.

YABVU and you and peope like you are allowing employers to erode our terms and conditions bit by bit. Leave the union and donate any payrise to a worthy cause.
Why were you in the union in the first place?

I support strike action, but tbh if I worked where I could lives in danger by not doing appointments already booked I don't know if I could follow through.

I am in a position similar to MrsMorton, my clinics will not be covered patients would just have to be rebooked and wait quite a bit longer. WierdCatLady I wonder if you'd be applauding me for my selflessness if you or someone you love had been their appointment to see me cancelled with a couple of days notice because I was on strike? Those patients had already had appointments booked and it felt disproportionately punitive to them to cancel. I work with very vulnerable service users and I've already said that I'm feeling conflicted about not being on strike but this isn't as black and white an issue as some are making it out to be. Sonjadog, I don't know how you've extrapolated that I give nothing back to the union, I pay my subs and have never needed to access their support though I do support other activities and will be supporting the later work to rule action.

I wasn't refering to you, OP, I was refering to Alpaca's post above mine, but someone else posted in the meantime, so it wasn't obvious.

Why don't you contact your union and ask them if you can get a badge or whatever they use saying that support the strike but you have to work due to the serious health risk posed to your patients if you don't? The unions I know of let strikers work, to a limited degree, in those circumstances.

"but when you know that your actions affect the individual, it's more difficult."

So how will you feel in the years to come when you can't see anyone because no-one wants to do the job because the pay and conditions are crap?

Why are you in a union if you're not going to go with union decisions? Genuine question.