Trade Union legally entitled to minutes - lack of transparency

Hammerman

Hi Just wondering can one request minutes from the meeting between employer and the union.
My wife lost her job several months ago. The unusual situation is her union rep is her/was her manager. She is the sole employee still in a job and after 4 months my wife still does not know if she is getting an enhanced package. The old communication that is ever delivered is from her ex-manager, generally in the form of an email and only after the ex-employees scream loud enough for an update. These updates contain main words but when you break it down it never tells anything of substance, so after 4 months she knows no more than she knew at the beginning of the process.
She has contacted the union and asked to speak to the person dealing with the meetings... never gets a return call but gets a the standard worded email from her ex-boss.
I contacted SIPTU (this is not the TU dealing with her process) to ask if I could request the minutes, true to form, they said they would call me back and of course didn't.
Something doesn't smell right to me, why make it so complicated?
Can anyone advise, is she legally entitled to the minutes?
I want to know exactly what she is entitled to before she contacts them again and see their response...

rock22

Hammerman wrote: »

Hi Just wondering can one request minutes from the meeting between employer and the union.
My wife lost her job several months ago. The unusual situation is her union rep is her/was her manager. She is the sole employee still in a job and after 4 months my wife still does not know if she is getting an enhanced package. The old communication that is ever delivered is from her ex-manager, generally in the form of an email and only after the ex-employees scream loud enough for an update. These updates contain main words but when you break it down it never tells anything of substance, so after 4 months she knows no more than she knew at the beginning of the process.
She has contacted the union and asked to speak to the person dealing with the meetings... never gets a return call but gets a the standard worded email from her ex-boss.
I contacted SIPTU (this is not the TU dealing with her process) to ask if I could request the minutes, true to form, they said they would call me back and of course didn't.
Something doesn't smell right to me, why make it so complicated?
Can anyone advise, is she legally entitled to the minutes?
I want to know exactly what she is entitled to before she contacts them again and see their response...

Negotiation of a redundancy package would be handled by a union official but it would not be unusual for the union to communicate to affected members via the rep/shop-steward.
However, you clearly feel that the matter is not been handled correctly, as the position of the union rep seems to be compromised. Your wife should contact the official and ask for a meeting. This would probably be better coming from all the staff affected. They should explain their anxiety about the way the matter is being handled and ask that the official deals directly with the redundant staff.
If they get no satisfaction they should excalate it to a more senior official.

Not surprised that SIPTU would, wisely, refuse to get involved in another unions business.

P. Breathnach

rock22 wrote: »

... Your wife should contact the official and ask for a meeting....

I'm not sure about this. It might be better to contact the union's head office to ask them to provide somebody else to represent her and the others affected, as the local rep seems to have a conflict of interest.

rock22

P. Breathnach wrote: »

I'm not sure about this. It might be better to contact the union's head office to ask them to provide somebody else to represent her and the others affected, as the local rep seems to have a conflict of interest.

Which is why I suggested bypassing the rep and going directly to the union official involved in the negotiations.

P. Breathnach

rock22 wrote: »

Which is why I suggested bypassing the rep and going directly to the union official involved in the negotiations.

Sorry, I misunderstood you.