Trade Unions

[stamullenredmen]

i was having a chat with a lad in work the other day about our union and its got me thinking about them.we work a contract for tesco that up until last month included the transporting of all their fresh produce to store but weve lost that now to another company and only run the warehouse.throughout the change over process with the transport end of things we were kept in the dark by the union to the point where out shop stewards werent allowed attend information meetings between the union and the drivers.the whole process following that smacked of the branch not wanting to lose the subs of the drivers as the company coming in isnt unionised and a lot of the drivers took the redundency and left anyway.

so to cut a long story short i suppose im wondering is there many on here in a trade union and do ye feel that theyve gone from looking out for workers interests to just making sure theyve as many members as possible to bring in as much money for themselves?

[SUPERFAN]

don't get me started on unions mate,a bunch of fcukin wasters if ye ask me.
there's a lot of old timers in my job and they all say the day the unions died was when they started taking the union subs straight from their wages..

[babbsnads]

Sounds dodgy to me mate. If the union were having meetings with management about your working conditions,yis should have definitely had representation at that meeting. They're supposed to be looking after your interests so it makes no sense to lock your shop stewards out of those meetings. Request a meeting with the head of your union where everyone can get some answers and he can explain the unions actions. If you don't get satisfaction from that then I'd leave the union.

I think unions are like everything else,there's some people who are good at their jobs and care and then there's some who are shit at their job and are self serving fcukers. I find it's important that you have good shop stewards. We have good ones at the moment in my job,but it's only after the new ones came in and started doing a good job that I realized that the last ones weren't great.

I'm a big believer in trade unions but they need to be held to account. The union is there to serve the workers interests and it's a sad fact that they need to be reminded of that from time to time. But the most important thing in any dispute is unity. If everyone isn't pulling in the same direction, then you're fcuked before you even start.

[stamullenredmen]

basically what it was mate was the union were meeting with the transport section to decide a course of action,our warehouse section shop stewards wanted to attend so they could tell us whats going on and the branch rep wouldnt let them.to be honest with some of the stuff thats been pulled the last two years by the branch reps the only thing keeping me in the union is we reckon the company that took the transport contract will be after the warehouse one soon and if the lads ended up on picket over it i couldnt pass them morally so id end up in big trouble!!sounds stupid i know but i get the feeling those at head office only want to swell the coffers

[babbsnads]

basically what it was mate was the union were meeting with the transport section to decide a course of action,our warehouse section shop stewards wanted to attend so they could tell us whats going on and the branch rep wouldnt let them.to be honest with some of the stuff thats been pulled the last two years by the branch reps the only thing keeping me in the union is we reckon the company that took the transport contract will be after the warehouse one soon and if the lads ended up on picket over it i couldnt pass them morally so id end up in big trouble!!sounds stupid i know but i get the feeling those at head office only want to swell the coffers

You're probably right pal. Doesn't sound stupid at all. I think superfan makes a good point too. Now the dues come out of your wages they don't have to face you on a weekly basis anymore.

[kingofthekop]

with unions either every one is in or no one is. if you work for a company who has 50+ employees and all are in a union then there is some point to it. otherwise Id rather keep the money in my pocket and fight my own corner.

They dont hold half the stature that they did in the past and in a recession theyre only interested in looking after themselves...

[vincenzo]

I was a member of UCATT for 13 years and only met my union rep twice!