Private sector - unions

[Slowingdownagain]

If you are in the private sector, do you wish you had a union? If effective unions were available for private sector workers would you join (and pay into) one? Would you strike if asked to?

Are unions not allowed in the private sector in the UK? I know they are more prevalent in the public sector, but I think Amazon for example recently had their first strike action in a warehouse somewhere?

According to google, there's seven million private sector union members. Why do you think there aren't any?

Because we never hear about any action that thery taking? I've also never come across a person IRL who is member of a union and private sector.

In my home country it's really common, I was surprised there wasn't a union to join when I started working here. Are you memebr of a union @KrisAkabusi

I'm in the private sector. I'm in a union. They have provided me with good solid and free (apart from subs) support and legal advice/representation.

Everyone (with very few exceptions) can join a union. Your workplace needn't know until they try to shaft you and your union fights with you.

There are loads of unions for private sector workers. Everyone who works should be in a union

Amazon have just been on strike. The train companies are privatised. Lots of private sector workers go on strike but rarely national and doesn't get covered as much.

They can, but typically they don't as far as my anecdotal experience tells me. And I would imagine a lot of those 7m are the sectors we hear about in the news, like aviation.

Do you mind me asking waht sector you work in?

Might look into union membership again. I did when I started working, but it seemed to not have much benefit to me. Also, surely the strength of unions is in collective action. If there isn't that, their power must be fairly limited (other than advocating for your in disputes etc).

Of course, rail workers too.

But old Joe Bloggs who works in an office?

No, I could, but I don’t. If I didn’t like certain aspects of a job (pay, conditions), then I would move to somewhere else.

I work for a trade union and many of our members are in the private sector - they're bloody brilliant at campaigning and standing up for themselves.

Thing is that whilst you can join a union, even in the smallest of employers, the union won't engage with negotiations etc for small numbers of people. Yes, they'll "support" you in, say, an unfair dismissal case, but they're not going to spend time talking to your employer about routine stuff like pay rises etc. That's basically because there won't be a "union rep" in smaller firms whereas bigger employers usually have a "rep" (or several) appointed from within their workforce.

Bigger employers typically do have union representation, i.e. larger factories, warehouses, etc., but smaller employers don't. That's not helpful when the majority of workers are employed by smaller employers. 61% of the workforce are employed by SMEs (small/medium employers)!

They can, but typically they don't as far as my anecdotal experience tells me. And I would imagine a lot of those 7m are the sectors we hear about in the news, like aviation.

That's on the union, pick a better one. Get better reps.

Do you mind me asking waht sector you work in?

Business consulting. I used to work in (office roles) in manufacturing. I'm not in the UK but my union is one of the biggest, and very (scarily) efficient in many ways.

There are things that unions can't do - you have to check if they provide legal support, or discounts or whatever. It works out much cheaper than legal insurance for me.

Strikes only happen, IIRC, where a workplace is unionised and there are reps or in places (like where i am) where industry wide tarrifs apply. Kindergarten workers, for eg, are covered by my union. A Tarrif for wages is applied and agreed in this industry. When they weren't offered better conditions they went on strike. It was very effective. I wouldn't be able to strike because no tarrif, no union in the workplace (i am in a union because unusually for here we don't have a workers council)

Most of NUJ is private sector. Same as GMB.

This is my thought.

I have to admit this was slightly to do with a comment on another thread that said private sector employees could just join a union too. But I doubt it would be anywhere near as effective. I can't see how it could be (unless in a sector where there is widespread union representation).

You usually need 20 people in a union for that union to have to be included in pay negotiations.

But many will support you, even if you are the only person in that union in your work place.

Thing is that whilst you can join a union, even in the smallest of employers, the union won't engage with negotiations etc for small numbers of people. Yes, they'll "support" you in, say, an unfair dismissal case, but they're not going to spend time talking to your employer about routine stuff like pay rises etc.

but for a small employer it is easier to negotiate your own. And as pp said if you don't like your conditions move. And if you can't negotiate? Learn how. But. If, as i was, your employer tries something on? Union helped me draft a letter, then attended a meeting with me, and then got a lawyer involved. I won but others in a similar position didn't. (i won in terms of getting a pay out, not keeping my job). It was an attempt at hire-refire and calling it redundancy.

Because we never hear about any action that thery taking?

Did you Google? BT, Stagecoach and Fox’s biscuits all took industrial action before Xmas and secured better pay deals as a result.

I'm in the public sector now, so yes. But back when I worked in factories, I was also a union member. I was signed up by the shop steward my first week in the job. I encourage everyone to join. It's not just about taking action, its about collective negotiation, right for individuals. If a factory isn't on strike, there's an argument that the union are doing their job properly! Striking is a last resort, a lot can be achieved before resorting to that. It may be that a private company is better able to increase pay than the government is.

I work in the private sector, I am not in a union.

In all honesty, I'm not very interested in collective bargaining. I work in a sector with healthy competition between companies, my pay is determined by how difficult it is to find people to do the job I do, and by how well I do it, and by how well the company as a whole does. If they don't pay me accordingly, I will leave and go elsewhere. In particular, I am not interested in working somewhere with a standardised payscale you progress through with experience - I find that incredibly unmotivating!

Maybe a union would be useful to me if there was ever a dispute or something - I haven't really considered it to be honest.

As PPs have said, union membership is available to private sector workers. However the UK does have much lower rates of union membership than some other countries- in the 20s% I believe. Given that includes public sector workers who are more likely to be in a union that means private sector workers who are in a union are very much the minority. In my experience certain sectors with private sector tend to have high rates of unionisation- eg oil and gas workers in the north sea are very unionised and have had industrial action in recent history.

I'm no longer in the private sector but when I was i wasn't a member of a union. I didn't work in a sector where having a union was common. I've dealt with union reps and they vary massively from brilliant, to some who are needlessly obstructive/confrontational and who actually wind up causing more issues for the members they are representing. I am pretty up to speed on employment law and would have no issues holding an employer to account on that front myself, so didn't see much benefit to me personally. I could see that for someone who would like the advice/representation side of it membership would be worth it if you got a good rep.

I’m in the private sector but not in a union.

I don’t agree with striking. If I wasn’t happy with my pay or working conditions I would just get a job elsewhere.

Maybe a union would be useful to me if there was ever a dispute or something - I haven't really considered it to be honest.

this is all fine, the "well i'd just leave and get a new job". You don't need a union for that. But when you have given 10 years of good work and are considered too expensive and your company give you redundancy notice and recruit someone to do your exact job at half the salary? Too bloody right you do. And a nice surprise it was for them when i took a union rep to a meeting i called with the MD and HR. it's like insurance, you don't need them until you do.

And my colleagues? i have always told people to join a union, they said "don't need one, if i want more money I'll find a new job". And then? Kicked out at 50, no redundancy money. It wasn'T fun for some of them.

When I worked permanently I was in a union even thought the union never represented the entire workforce. The union sorted out an employment dispute with one employer. Then a few years later I worked for an employer who got taken over. Instead of making legit redundancies the employer did all sort of tricks to get rid of people, however when they found out I was in a union they made a reasonable offer to pay me off.

One of my brothers' then joined the same union. The union needed as many members in his company to join as they managed to negotiate a solution with his company so him and his colleagues jobs were not off-shored.

Try that when you are aged 50+

Unless you work in a sector where there are lots of freelance workers who can earn a good living, you will find you won't get another job.

I have no problem with that. The only thing work owes me is the money at the end of the month, in exchange for the work that I do. It’s all laid out in the contract, and they can get rid of me, or I can leave, at any time (notice period accepted). I don’t expect an employer to do any more than that, it’s purely a transactional relationship. Why do you think that an employer should owe you any more?