aldi union?

dm1979

hi all, are there any aldi staff out there part of a trade union and if not , why not? I know a few people who work in aldi, always complaining about hours, rest periods etc, and I here contract changes are on the way soon. All workers should be involved or at least have the option to be involved with a union. If your having trouble at work and no trade union to help what do you do?

alanhiggyno1

no union there im afraid

dm1979

is that not illegal, i mean can they get involved with a trade union even if aldi object to staff having one... Can aldi object to staff being part of a trade union?

alanhiggyno1

plenty business about that dont have a trade union nowadays

Beano

staff can join a trade union. The employer has no obligation to talk to the union.

dm1979

but not many as big as aldi, the amount of people they have working for them, and still growing in ireland, dunnes tesco and supervalu staff have a union who fight for staff conditions and fair pay and protect their rights.

dm1979

and what if staff felt bullied in to not getting involved with a union, i mean if it were an "unspoken rule" not to have a union involved.

MouseTail

Beano wrote: »

staff can join a trade union. The employer has no obligation to talk to the union.

That is currently the position, but there is new collective bargaining legislation in the pipeline which will bring us into line with the EU.

dm1979

how would you go about setting up aldi workers with a union, bigger companies could have 100 staff in some stores, very easy to get word around that a union is open to them, while aldi has maybe 10 staff in some stores.

Beano

dm1979 wrote: »

and what if staff felt bullied in to not getting involved with a union, i mean if it were an "unspoken rule" not to have a union involved.

Is this a hypothetical or is this actually happening?

dm1979

well that would depend, could we make it happen, like I said with a larger store its easier, more workers in one place, but with aldi not many workers per store and not much communication between stores.

brianblaze

I remember when I worked in one of the largest non unionized retailers in Ireland.... Tried to start a Union, word got out and I was told I'd never get prmoted in the company and was treated like dog sh*t for a year.

Advice being, do it under the radar if you're doing it!

allibastor

They avoid it by using a lot of agencies there.

dm1979

allibastor wrote: »

They avoid it by using a lot of agencies there.

how do you mean?

allibastor

Do you work there?

dm1979

allibastor wrote: »

Do you work there?

I refuse to answer that question on the grounds I might incriminate myself

Beano

why not approach a union for advice? I'm sure they would be happy to take subs from you.

allibastor

So yes, you do.

Do you work direct or through an agency.


To be honest, unions don't really do much anymore nowadays do they, with AWD agreements, labour court etc available to all. Look at Greyhound.

In positions where there are gen ops, the ones that want a union are the ones that usually don't like being told what to do or when to do it.
I know a few guys, ex builders who work at Aldi and say it is great, OK wages and hard work, but these lads were well used to hard work before

dm1979

I know unions dont do to much now days, but simply the thought of your staff having one can make an employer treat staff better, yes aldi is good wages and hard work but they break basic employment laws on a daily basis, for example rest periods between shifts. sorry forgot to add, I dont work for aldi but several people close to me do.

allibastor

dm1979 wrote: »

I know unions dont do to much now days, but simply the thought of your staff having one can make an employer treat staff better, yes aldi is good wages and hard work but they break basic employment laws on a daily basis, for example rest periods between shifts. sorry forgot to add, I dont work for aldi but several people close to me do.

As in they ask you back in after a long shift at night, right in the morning?

In what way do they break rest periods?

dm1979

11 hour rest period in 24 hours for example working till 10 in the evening and having to be back in work for 7 the next morning, thats just one breach of employment law I have witnessed there are many more.

allibastor

dm1979 wrote: »

11 hour rest period in 24 hours for example working till 10 in the evening and having to be back in work for 7 the next morning, thats just one breach of employment law I have witnessed there are many more.

You sure about that. Even the warehouse managers there are on a set shift, as are all the staff there. they don't do swing shifts there or have multi shifts. if you are on a morning shift, you are always on it, same with all the other shifts.

I know this for fact.

dm1979

possitive, store staff, and I have never heard of staff been given set shifts, that is your either a morning or an evening shift person. All staff I know do mixed shifts and while most of the time rest periods are observed there are a lot of times when they are not.

testicle

dm1979 wrote: »

11 hour rest period in 24 hours for example working till 10 in the evening and having to be back in work for 7 the next morning, thats just one breach of employment law I have witnessed there are many more.

NERA is who you need to talk to in that case, not a union. However, that sounds like a change of shift, so an exemption to the 11 hours is allowed.

allibastor

testicle wrote: »

NERA is who you need to talk to in that case, not a union. However, that sounds like a change of shift, so an exemption to the 11 hours is allowed.

Yes, I would agree with you there, but even in those situations a shift change usually only happens on a weekly basis, they, AFAIK don't do daily shift changes.

Is this a case of a once off situation DM or does the store manager just not have the capacity to plan an organised work rota.

dm1979

honestly, hand on heart, I have someone close to me who has worked with several different managers in several different aldi stores, and it has happened alot sometimes on a weekly basis.