Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not support strike action

297 replies

Happyhappyveggie · 25/01/2018 15:03

I’m in a university trade union and we have been called to take strike action over our pension.

The action is 14 days over 4 weeks, starting at 2 days a week and then escalating over that month to a full week.

I simply can’t do it. It will put my children and family security in trouble but now I am thinking should i leave the Union rather than strike break.

I am finding it all very stressful and upsetting actually as I support the need to protect pensions but it feels like my immediate circumstances are more important- as in keeping a roof over my kids heads.

Aibu? Can you be in a trade union and not support action? I find morally I am struggling with it.

OP posts:
worridmum · 26/01/2018 11:57

So woman striking for equal pay were tantriuming toddlers do you think we got sick pay holiday pay pensions out of the goodness of our employers heart no we got these bonuses because people withdrew there labour on mass...

taskmaster · 26/01/2018 11:59

Language is important too. 'Nobody likes a freeloader.' 'scabs' 'lowest of the low' all expressions used on this thread alone. Just for people not agreeing with others

NO, its not for not agreeing with others. Why do you not understand? You can disagree all you like, you can hold whatever opinion you like, you can not strike: its all fine. But you cannot do it while being part of the union, because joining is a promise to be part of the collective. It's not about you as an individual, its about the collective, thats the point.

It's like when you get married, you make promises. If you want to fuck someone else you need to leave the marriage or you're a cheating asshole. If you want to not strike you need to leave the union, or you're a cheating freeloader.

WitchesHatRim · 26/01/2018 12:06

I've worked in plenty of companies where I've not joined the union yet have reaped the benefits of their efforts, all of them. I recall a union member asking me why they are bothering to pay because the person who sat next to them benefitted without paying. I couldn't answer.

it's extremely frustrating that increasing numbers of people 'exercise their right' to benefit from the improved pay and conditions that union members have won for them without being prepared to fight to keep/improve those benefits when the moment comes. My answer to the question your colleague asked is that I simply couldn't live with myself if I behaved like that. As honeyroar said, no-one likes a freeloader, and I'm not prepared to be one.

NO, its not for not agreeing with others. Why do you not understand?

As you can see from the quoted the free loader comment has also been used about someone who wasn't in a union!

CottonGoods · 26/01/2018 12:09

ilovesooty: the face is because they were the same lazy buggers who never turned up anyway. One of these same students who suddenly developed a political conscience told me at the start of the year that he wouldn't be able to come to any classes as his dyslexia meant he couldn't read timetables. Ah, happy memories.

TheStoic · 26/01/2018 12:10

Anti-union folks remind me of anti-vaccers. Don’t want to risk harm to their own families, but are happy for others to do so to benefit society as a whole.

WitchesHatRim · 26/01/2018 12:17

Anti-union folks remind me of anti-vaccers

Not anti union. I'm anti name calling, bullying etc and for people being able to make their own decisions.

I have taken part in strikes in the past. I have had colleagues who haven't. I didn't feel the need to be horrible to them funnily enough.

taskmaster · 26/01/2018 12:19

They can make their own decisions when they are not in a union. And they should turn down any benefits won by the union!

Lovesagin · 26/01/2018 12:19

Yep, apparently i was a freeloader because my company treated union and non union workers the same. The horrible unfair bastards.

ShatnersWig · 26/01/2018 12:26

taskmaster Where is joining anything a promise to go along with every decision made or you have to quit?

WitchesHatRim · 26/01/2018 12:28

Yep, apparently i was a freeloader because my company treated union and non union workers the same. The horrible unfair bastards.

How very dare they hey.

And they should turn down any benefits won by the union!

Well how far do you want to go with that then? For ecample no buggies or prams at all on buses or public transport without folding before getting on as they only have the privilege of the spaces on buses etc due to hard fought campaigning by disabled groups.

Lovesagin · 26/01/2018 12:31

And people who benefit from positive action taken from protests, marches etc should also refuse.

The wider impact eh? Thinking about those less fortunate, oh for sure......

SoupyNorman · 26/01/2018 12:32

Where is joining anything a promise to go along with every decision made or you have to quit?

Joining a union, which is entirely based around the idea of collective action and solidarity, means precisely that. Not sure why you can't grasp that.

Lovesagin · 26/01/2018 12:32

It's the employees caught in the middle I feel sorry for, comments like "it will always be remembered" .......something quite sinister about that :(

Bramble71 · 26/01/2018 12:34

There's no need to leave the Union over this. Until I had to give up work, I was a paid up union member, always have been. I took part in strikes a few times, but there were other times when I was single and very hard up that I couldn't, no matter how much I would have liked to do. I totally understand that not every member can afford to strike at the time it is called, and for a prolonged strike. You're not obliged to go on strike at all. Every member should know and respect this.

Don't feel bad going in to work. If you do get any hassle, then these are just nasty or thoughtless people in general and not worth your worry.

Please don't leave your union because of this. You never know; one day you might need and fully appreciate union support and representation. I did, because of an employer discriminating against me after I became disabled. Nobody should ever think they might not need union support. Our reps supported people who were told they were underperforming, having too many sickness absences (me included), with maternity leave issues etc.

ShatnersWig · 26/01/2018 12:47

Soupy I didn't actually ask you, sorry if you couldn't grasp that. Sorry, if that sounds snarky but so did you.

But the reason I asked it was because task compared it to marriage which of course is nonsense. In a marriage you DO stand up and make public promises. You don't, to my knowledge, do that in a union.

If everyone left every single union, or club, or marriage because they disagreed with something, none of them would last very long. And half our MPs would be kicked out of their parties frequently. Very occasionally the whip is withdrawn but not very often. The idea of joining a political party is that you broadly agree with their aims. You don't have to agree with every single one. I doubt every union member agrees with every single edict or decision made by their ruling committee.

reddington · 26/01/2018 12:52

It’s about time unions were outlawed and anyone striking sacked. Be grateful you’ve got a fucking job.

SteamyBeignets · 26/01/2018 12:54

Some PPs keep bringing up how we should be thankful to unions. There was a time and place for unions yes just like the women right movement etc. I dont support it because the bully tactics and unpleasantness of it all. The reality is most jobs will be replaced by technology. You can scream and shout with your comrades, be nasty to colleagues who dont support your 'struggle' it will not make much difference.

SoupyNorman · 26/01/2018 12:55

Don't worry, I meant to be snarky! Grin

It's pretty clear from your last post that you either don't understand or don't want to acknowledge what a union is, because you are opposed to the whole idea of collective action and mutual solidarity. That's fine - you probably aren't a member of a union, nor an academic, so it's no skin off your nose.

Unless you are a student, or the parent of a student, in which case I hope you get really pissed off by the prolonged strike action and start making your displeasure known to the university!

TheStoic · 26/01/2018 12:55

It’s about time unions were outlawed and anyone striking sacked. Be grateful you’ve got a fucking job.

Is that...you, Margaret??

Tapandgo · 26/01/2018 12:59

To me striking is the adult equivalent of a toddler tantrum

That was said about the action of the Suffragettes! To say that about strike action taken at personal cost to themselves and in pursuit of a just settlement for all is frankly inane.

ShatnersWig · 26/01/2018 13:08

Soupy In my current role, there isn't an obvious union for me, actually, so I don't really have any choice. In my previous career, many moons ago, there was a union. And it was completely and hopelessly inept and achieved absolutely nothing.

I do get what unions are about. I think there are good unions and bad unions, good union leaders and bad union leaders (many of the latter feather their own nests considerably). 45 union leaders took home over £100,000 in 2016 before you consider things like pensions and i some cases, houses. Some earn more than the Prime Minister.

It's also a fact that public sector trades unions are subsidised by the public purse, so all taxpayers are contributing to some unions that we have absolutely no involvement with. Sometimes it's hard to support trades union leaders claiming to be representing the average worker when they are so far removed from the average worker it's laughable.

I appreciate not all are like this, but you can see why it can leave a bitter taste in a lot of people's mouths.

I absolutely respect the right of people to go on strike. But I absolutely respect also the right of people not to go on strike, and continue to work if their personal circumstances (ie, finance) or personal beliefs (ie, nursing and ensuring patient well being) compel them to without facing harassment or abuse from other union members for doing so.

safariboot · 26/01/2018 13:16

"There was a 58% turnout. Of which 88% voted for strike action. That means, in effect, 51% of union members voted for a strike, so pretty darn close."

A considerably stronger result than the one which persuaded our country's leaders to leave the European Union then.

Seniorcitizen1 · 26/01/2018 13:45

If you don’t support the strike then don’t strike. However you should refuse to benefit from anything that the strike achieves. And crossing a picket line is a no no.

WitchesHatRim · 26/01/2018 13:54

However you should refuse to benefit from anything that the strike achieves.

As has previously been said, I hope you don't think that unfolded means and buggies should be on public transport then, for example.

Lovesagin · 26/01/2018 14:07

And just how is op supposed to not strike and yet not cross this picket line (which is just a line of very normal average people that one can very easily walk past)

The suffragettes were mentioned earlier - I'm assuming those females on this thread who say non union members shouldn't benefit from union action played no part in their protests and therefore dont vote?

Swipe left for the next trending thread