My manager has denounced non-strikers but I truly can’t afford it

[Strik]

In the office today the topic of upcoming strikes came up (public sector). My manager is as left-wing as they come and was not shy in sharing her contempt for people who don’t choose to strike. I’m really worried because I can’t afford to go on strike and she’s (obviously) going to find out that I’m not striking. I’m worried it’s going to damage our relationship. Has anyone been in this situation before?

Incidentally, I've worked in the private sector my whole career, I am not a member of a union but I understand what membership involves. Mainly through the news and films. I find it difficult to believe that someone working in the public sector would not understand this.

Or even when getting their ballot paper, not actually understanding what they were voting for but ticking a box regardless.

@Strik So you joined a Union in case you ever needed support from them, you voted to strike for better pay/conditions, but you're not prepared to strike yourself even though its presumably a condition of membership.

I'm not going to reduce myself to your level by name calling but my opinion of you probably couldn't get any lower.

YES

That 'protection' comes from the workers acting in unison - AKA in a union. Collective action requires.... you guessed it- the collective actions of the members of the UNION.

If you were never willing to do you but to protect others then you have no business seeking that protection from them.

Of course you join for a level of protection against personal unfairness but membership comes with responsibility

Translation:

'I am giving other people the opportunity to lose a day's pay, even though I won't, in order to win me a payrise'.

I don't think this was a good thing to do, OP.

Do you agree with the strikes in principle? If so, maybe have a look into whether your union has a strike fund - some of the big public sector ones do, to partially cover lost wages.

You do pay quite a lot for that protection though, usually between 15 to 30 quid a month. So it's not an obligation to strike! What strange views are held here, very nasty.

I can see why people want jobs where they wfh, imagine having to go into work with some of the nasty bullies on this thread.

I dunno, calling someone a scab, possibly changing your attitude towards someone who you were previously sociable with and employees suddenly stopping swapping shifts/hols/cover as a pp mentioned because they didn't strike is pretty questionable conduct and bordering on bullying. I don't think it elevates those doing it to the higher moral status they mistakingly believe they hold by striking anyway.

i dunno, joining a union for the protections, voting to strike then not striking and your colleagues who did strike and lost out financially finding out? And them not being all sweetness and light as it was before? Piffle

If you join a union you read the terms and conditions, you look up what the union does, what it believes and what it expects of you. I notice OP is clear that there are benefits to being in a union, so presumably she read up on the bits it would do for her and less on what her contribution should be.

Scab or not - if someone crosses a picket line, and they are a union member, they can't expect everyone to love them the same. It is a big move and that is why union membership needs to be considered. On the other hand scabs get all the benefits won by collective action, and i don't wonder that people who have suffered financially are sour about it.

So again, i am now going to assume that OP won't do this again. Or will leave the union. That is up to her.

I hope that anyone in precarious, dangerous, underpaid and overworked employment considers joining a union (there are benefits outside industrial action and collective bargaining, including employment legal cover and insurance). But it isn't a free ride. That isn't what the union movement is about.

(FWIW - when my union are picketing supermarkets or whatever, that i would usually wand to use, i go elsewhere. Because that is what being in a union is about - supporting each other. The workers)

The Union I belong to says in the membership conditions that, if the majority of Union members vote for strike action. all members should strike, regardless of how they voted.

If my Union voted to strike and I really disagreed, I would leave the Union.

But in this case, the OP says she voted to strike. So there is definitely an obligation for her to do so. I don't think it's nasty when people are pointing out the hypocrisy of that stance.

Picket lines should be illegal.

Yes the right to withdraw your labour and stop your employer offering services and performing business as usual.

No to bullying and intimidating your colleagues who choose to go to work.

Agreed. Inadvertently or not they are making unions come across as vile organisations. Perhaps they are planted by the right wing to give unions a bad rep?

I don’t think your manager is behaving well. But nor are you, OP. You still haven’t answered the questions put to you about the strike fund. If you really cannot afford to strike then contact your union to seek financial support…unless you know that really your finances are not that dire and actually you can afford to strike, but just don’t fancy losing a day’s pay?

I’ve been on strike many times, and I can tell you, OP, that seeing union colleagues breaking that strike by crossing OUR shared union’s picket line feels like a kick in the teeth to those of us who got up at 5:30 to stand outside our workplace unpaid. I’m not excusing your manager, but I’m guessing that’s where their views are coming from. You weaken our union’s position at the negotiating table and in doing so you devalue the financial sacrifices made by those who do go on strike.

Have a think about that and apply to the union for help if your position is really that bad.

I'm afraid anyone who uses language like scab just comes across as having low intelligence and being without any humanity. As bad as the opposite extreme.

it's not a nice word - but it is the jargon word that is used to describe something that would otherwise take several sentences. It is not one that i have ever, or will ever, use in conversation in RL about a particular person - but if generally speaking about strike action, for sure i will refer to scabs as a shorthand.

I have suggested to OP that when she breaks the strike, she does only her rule and doesn't pick up work that would be done by a striking colleague. Unless specifically instructed to. and that if possible not to work overtime. And i have suggested this so that in some small, practically invisible (she doesn't have to say why, she can say she's got a lot of her own work and can't manage it) way she can assuage what should be a guilty conscience. Guilty of voting to strike then not following through (we know why but it still needs to be said) and guilty of signing up for something that she hasn't read the full terms and conditions for.

I mean, OP would be up in arms if her employer suddenly demanded 55 hours a week, with no extra pay or whatever, even though her contract says 40. Her union legal representative, btw, could advise her how to approach that. It might even involve a walkout at her location by her fellow workers. But. Hey. That would benefit OP so it's ok.

The payment in itself ultimately doesn't provide you with any protection, zero, nil....

In extremis, when discussion, negotiation and arbitration have failed it's you and your colleagues being prepared to indulge in IA that might get a situation resolved in a manner to your liking.

You are right that just being in a union is not an obligation to strike but you shouldn't vote to strike if you yourself are not or cannot do so, it's grossly unfair on colleagues to do so.

I’m not a fan of striking. I can see why it was used years ago but think there must be a better way to negotiate now.

I worked in the public sector and a man and woman in my office hadn’t spoken for 20 years because she crossed a picket line. She was getting married the month after and was skint.

he was batshit.

The whole point of unions is taking collective action. You not striking with your union harm's your colleagues, so I think it's understandable that people will have strong feelings about it. There are non-striking unions you could explore instead. Also, you may be able to access strike relief funding.

It does sound a bit like you want your union to support you, but you don't want to support your union. You understand that the protection your union offers comes from other union members willingness to act as a collective?

@Harrysutton

I’m not a fan of striking. I can see why it was used years ago but think there must be a better way to negotiate now.

I'm not either and I wish there was a better way but as long as you've got employers out there determined to drive down or at best freeze T&Cs for the sake of their bonuses and to please shareholders Unions have to have that option.

But don’t vote for other people to strike either.

Don't strike, but also don't be a CF and take the pay rise once it's won. No one can afford to strike but they do it for long term benefit.

the point about striking now is that cheap zero hours labour is easy to come by to get a company over a relatively long strike. With very little in terms of extra costs (and probably savings)

This is because workers' rights have been eroded because since Thatcher the unions have been so demonised that most of their collective power has been erased. A strike is the LAST resort. Usually following discussions, work to rule, go slow, whatever.

And pay isn't the only reason some unions strike. Safety (customers and members) and terms and conditions (changing your wage structure so that evenings, nights, weekends and holidays are all now paid at your basic rate instead of time and a half or double time? nobody should swallow that without a protest)

I've never been on strike, because i've never worked in a unionised company. But i am in a union and they have been super helpful over redundancy, being fired while pregnant and working out how we can approach our company about 2 safety issues without it escalating. They have advised and given resources and information - all at a relatively small cost to me compared to no redundancy pay, staying fired while pregnant and resolving the 2 safety issues if I'd had to go to a private lawyer.

And again: nobody is having a go at OP for not wanting to, and not actually, going on strike. They are taking her to task (and the conversation has widened into "well what have unions ever done for us") for voting to strike and having signed up to a union without knowing what they do.

I'd cross a picket line, no fucks given! Feeding my family and keeping a roof over their heads comes first.

If people stuck together in disputes outcomes would be decided much faster.

Can you take leave instead, it avoids the resentment from striking colleagues.

Tell your manager it's your way of supporting the strike despite not being able to afford to lose a day's pay.