Which union should I join? Small public sector organisation.

[Workworkwok]

I've never been in a union before.

I work in a small niche public sector organisation (less than 20 people), in an administrative role.

I don’t know if anyone else there is in a union, there’s no obvious sign of mass union membership. I could try asking around.

I did TMB union finder and it came up with a list but not sure how to choose - Unite, Unison, FDA, GMB, Community, PCS

What should I look for?

I'm not anticipating any specific issues at work.

Unfortunately you probably need to tell us the organisation or at least the sector to be able to help. Civil service, NHS, local government, something else?

its so small and niche it would be completely outing to name it, and no one would have heard of it.

It’s civil service I suppose, kinda like a local authority.

There's Prospect as well. I think probably the best thing to do is ask around. Or see which appeals to you most and has the cheapest subs?

Actually we might be an Arms Length Body. It’s seems to be complicated.

That sounds about right if it’s a small organisation

As you’ve seen there are a variety of unions for the Government departments, and they tend to represent different grade groups.

In the MoD Civil Service the majority union is PCS, but Prospect typically covers specialism professions and FDA covers the senior civil service

Community (who are a former steel union now branching out to other sectors) came to my school once and seemed helpful and well organised.

Contact the lot and see who has the best customer service relative to the cost?

Thanks this is all helpful.

PCS do list employers that my organisation collaborates with, so that could be appropriate.

I’m not senior enough for FDA apparently.

My role isn’t specialist although my colleagues certainly are.

Contact the lot and see who has the best customer service relative to the cost?

Yes, good advice, thanks

I will also ask around at work to see if anyone else has a union.

you need to find out which union has a collective bargaining agreement for the employer rather than pick a union. Depending on the organisation and your grade, my bet would be PCS or Prospect.

This may help if you can see your employer on this list: https://mypcs.pcs.org.uk/onlinejoiningform

I’ve already checked and we are not on the PCS list.

as I said, there’s no sign of my colleagues being in a union.

pay awards are negotiated through the National Joint Council.

Your reason for joining would be of interest.
I’ve worked in this area (employee relations)and seen it from both sides. I remain unconvinced that the unions really do much for their members as a local level if you ever need specific employment advice ACAS is your resource.

its a good question, and I’m interested to hear your perspective.

I’m seeing it as an insurance policy. In case “something” happens that puts me at odds with management, and I need support and guidance should that lead to my being treated unfairly. I thought union membership would help in that kind of situation?

In theory it should. In practice much depends on the quality of the union rep (if there is one) and/or the quality of the advisors in the union office.

I am a teacher and I found the main union, NEU, useless in that regard, but I now belong to a smaller employee assistance organisation that are really helpful.

I have needed to seek advice on maternity & contracts, bullying from management and a colleague, and dodgy data practices.

Thank you, this is good to know.

So given that pay negotiation is already covered whether I’m in a union or not, I should be looking for a union that appears to have the best service in that regard.

could you share which Employee Assistance Program you are in? @Needlenardlenoo

If it’s the NJC for local government (are your terms and conditions set out in the ‘Green Book’?) then it would be UNISON (most likely), GMB or Unite.

It is the NJC for local government, our pay aligns with one of the local councils, which is mainly Unison. I’m not familiar with the Green Book? Our T&Cs are our own.

But I’m still unclear, given whats been said above, if that’s the best choice for me, as I don’t work for the council. UNISON also seems very expensive!

As above, it depends so much on the quality and experience of the union rep. And a large part of that is how they interact with management (so many reps take up an adversarial position which rarely works out for the member).

if you were in a sticky situation, most workplaces have a basic policy they must follow. And if they don’t, there is a Disciplinary Code of Conduct they should follow. ACAS would talk you through this and give you the sound legal position.

I’m not anti-union, far from it, but have had so many lacklustre experiences with different unions I feel i can’t wholeheartedly wave the flag for them.

And if course, If you’re in local government your pay is negotiated for you whether you’re in the union or not.

It do depends what it is. If it's civil service, I'd say PCS. If it's more local authority and you're on NJC contract I would say Unite, Unison or GMB. You can always call the union membership to ask. They'll give advice about whether they're the right union for you and they'll know if they have members in similar workplaces.
Definitely also ask around to find out if anyone knows about unions. Longer standing members of staff are likely to know, even if they're not members themselves.

Are you in a local authority contracted out service? Sounds like Unison might be your best bet.

I've rarely worked in a unionised workplace, but I have been a member of Prospect for decades, and they have been excellent in a disciplinary and later a redundancy situation.

I too see it like insurance- I don't want to be in a situation where I have to use it, but very glad of it when I have had to. Although I've also attended a couple of women in tech activities they organised, so it hasn't all been about my employer.

i wouldn’t join i would just save the value of subs separately every month in case you ever need £500 for an employment lawyer

No. As I said above we are more like an Arms Length Body but technically I don’t think we are that either. I asked my boss once and didn’t get a clear answer. We seem to fall between stalls.

This is definitely the case.

I’m a member of Unite. There isn’t any collective bargaining agreement with my employer (private sector) but I wanted to join for peace of mind in case anything did go wrong and I wanted some back up.

Definitely also ask around to find out if anyone knows about unions. Longer standing members of staff are likely to know, even if they're not members themselves

thanks @WhereAreWeNow I’m going to do this next week. There’s one person I think will know

I wouldn’t join GMB based on experiences I had with them, not as member, or anything to do with them being a union, but it left a very bad impression of them as an organisation