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?

There is always a union to join, even if there's no recognised one. The TUC website has a union finder tool, so you can search by sector.

Yes, there are unions. But I guess I wonder what the point is to them givenmost people don't join them (EXCEPT in certain sectors). If it's mainly just legal assistance in a dispute then I guess, like pp said, it's a kind of insurance.

People choosing not to join a union isn't the same as them not existing or not being able to. The reality is that most people aren't bothered by strikes unless it immediately effects them, many strikes wouldn't so they wouldn't be effective.

People choosing not to join a union isn't the same as them not existing or not being able to.

That is true, but many people don't realise that if there is no recognised union, they can still join one, so it is not always an informed choice.

Many people don't understand how unions work. A colleague in his 40s only recently learnt that you don't get paid if you're on strike. Many unions will offer an allowance from a strike fund, but your employer won't pay you.

I mean peoples ignorance isn't anyone elses fault really.

Private sector and unions are not of interest to me. I wouldn’t pay fees

I work in an Independent/private school ...in a union

I worked in quality control in a warehouse setting for a private company and joined a union but more for help if there was a dispute, disciplinary or unfair dismissal, stuff like that rather than striking. It wasn't anything to do with the company though, it was probably Unite, I can't remember

My brother who is in a union that is recognised by his employers has never called for a strike in his workplace. Simply as it isn't effective. Their main role is keeping the workforce in jobs and sorting out workplace disputes for individual members.

Likewise my DP, who is a union rep, only role is sorting out workplace disputes for individuals/groups or preventing a couple of his shit managers causing them in the first place. In his workplace there are lots of different unions and if his union called for a strike it wouldn't be effective, there as if one of the others did it could be.

Paying more to someone in the south east to allow them to buy a property that is worth more and generally appreciates more along with allowing them to accrue a more valuable pension would have to be subject to forcing that person to remain in the south east when they retire and/or downsize which is patently nonsensical. I'm not completely against some recognition of cost of living via a payment but it's not a simple approach, particularly in these times of increased wfh and huge disparity in generational wealth, along with differences in funding of various services including but not limited to public transport.

The idea that educational attainment is a measure of someone's monetary worth is also half baked.

The idea that educational attainment is a measure of someone's monetary worth is also half baked

Eh? What's with the graduate premium then? Why do gradutes earn more money than non-grads. If that were the case, why bother with HE at all.

Plenty of jobs/trades pay more than graduate wages.

Also, a lot of "graduate" jobs don't actually "need" graduates - lots of jobs never used to be degree jobs. They're tending to be higher paid jobs, and simply "weeding out" applicants by requiring a degree. So it's kind of the opposite really, that some higher paid jobs/professions are higher paid anyway, but self-select graduates just to reduce the number of applicants.

Eh? What's with the graduate premium then? Why do gradutes earn more money than non-grads. If that were the case, why bother with HE at all.

This is such a non-sequitur.
People do degrees to gain certain skill and knowledge. These are valuable (or perceived to be) to employers. However, some people gain those skills and knowledge without a degree, or they get a degree but their grade doesn't reflect how good the skills relevant to the job in question are.
So you might have one person doing a job with a degree, and one person who self-taught the same skills, and they can be equally as good at their jobs. The fact that other people without degrees get paid less (on average) is irrelevant to comparing the pay of people within a particular role.

I worked for 15 years in the voluntary sector for a company that didn't recognise unions. I was still a union member despite not actually needing them. It was a happy place to work but things can change. Given my previous experience I wasn't taking any chances.

I'm now self employed - and still a union member. I'm actually in two unions.

Millions of people in private sector are union members.

Here is a link to how to find out which trade union is the right one for you.
www.tuc.org.uk/join-a-union

Some roles may have more than one option of course.