Union's, sigh!

Smondie

An Posts refusal to use eircodes smacks of union nonsense. The same union doesn't seem to be bothered if the post office opens 10minutes late!

Hopefully a private company will take take over the union dismantled.

What other instances of unions cutting off thier nose to spite thier faces can you think of?

Pac1Man

Union Jack?

Union's what?

Smondie

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Union's what?

Thier nonsense

smash

The sooner we get drones to deliver mail the better.

Smondie

Here's another one.


Billionaire investor Carl Icahn wrote a letter Thursday to the soon-to-be unemployed workers of the Trump Taj Mahal casino, accusing their union of inciting them to destroy their own jobs by participating in the longest strike by Atlantic City's main casino workers union.

Icahn told the workers that officials of Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union knew that the company had made its final offer, but rejected it anyway, knowing a strike would result.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/billionaire-investor-carl-icahn-union-got-taj-mahal-casino-workers-to-kill-own-jobs/

Captain Chaos

Smondie wrote: »

What other instances of unions cutting off thier nose to spite thier faces can you think of?

Irish Rail DART drivers refusing to fully train up 9 new drivers so the company and introduce a 10 minute frequency from October.

The current drivers are saying they can't work to those times yet that is why they are to train up 9 new drivers.:rolleyes: Reason they are given is that senior drivers don't want any SPADs on their record that many happen while a new driver is driving under supervision which is total BS.

I'd be sacked if I refused to teach a new trainee in my job.

mad muffin

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? Oh wait… that's league. I always get Union and league mixed up!! :eek::(:o

Pac1Man

Or some nice union rings with a bag of chips on a Friday! It really is the little things.

ancapailldorcha

There are people I work with who cannot commute in because the local train drivers union has decided to go on a strike to fight against efficiency measures despite nobody's job being under threat.

biko

Unions may not be perfect but they're a hell of a lot better than the alternative.

Hager

An Post voiced their objection to Eircode from the very earliest days of its proposal mainly because they have invested in sorting machinery that is perfectly capable of doing its job and felt that Eircode would offer no advantage to them. There is no union bogey man at play here.
I will admit that unions sometimes do themselves no favours with some of their arguments but I think that working conditions in this country,for both union and non union workers, would be a lot worse were it not for their existence.

Smondie

biko wrote: »

Unions may not be perfect but they're a hell of a lot better than the alternative.

What's the alternative?

Labour courts and employment laws? That sounds A-okay to me!

smash

biko wrote: »

Unions may not be perfect but they're a hell of a lot better than the alternative.

In my opinion the alternative is properly a functioning society. Unions are the cogs that go backwards and f*ck things up. So I'd rather the alternative.

Smondie

Hager wrote: »

An Post voiced their objection to Eircode from the very earliest days of its proposal mainly because they have invested in sorting machinery that is perfectly capable of doing its job and felt that Eircode would offer no advantage to them. There is no union bogey man at play here.
I will admit that unions sometimes do themselves no favours with some of their arguments but I think that working conditions in this country,for both union and non union workers, would be a lot worse were it not for their existence.

So why did they take it upon themselves to start returning my post to sender? The reason, the usual postman was on holidays and they refused to look at the eircode, asking "any local landmarks?" Yes here is a picture of my house on a map with an individual code, oh no, couldn't look at that. There's a chestnut tree and 5 cows in a field, perfect...give me strength.

realdanbreen

biko wrote: »

Unions may not be perfect but they're a hell of a lot better than the alternative.

I worked in two companies that were effectively closed by the union in order to get fat redundancy payouts to the members who had 30+ years service while it was tough sh1t for those of us with just a few years service.

MeatTwoVeg

The post office nearest my work closes from 12.30 to 2pm.
WTF! The precise times that most people are free to pop down and use their services.

Wanderer78

Smondie wrote:

Hopefully a private company will take take over the union dismantled.

Yes yes, neoliberalism is working fine globally, isn't it!

Renegade Mechanic

smash wrote: »

The sooner we get drones to deliver mail the better.

I will NEVER buy anything that has to be delivered by drone, because it'll be some airsoft wanker under it's flight path that'll be getting what I bought...

Hager

Smondie wrote: »

So why did they take it upon themselves to start returning my post to sender? The reason, the usual postman was on holidays and they refused to look at the eircode, asking "any local landmarks?" Yes here is a picture of my house on a map with an individual code, oh no, couldn't look at that. There's a chestnut tree and 5 cows in a field, perfect...give me strength.

I've no idea. I don't work for An Post so have no clue as to what their policies are.

sbsquarepants

MeatTwoVeg wrote: »

The post office nearest my work closes from 12.30 to 2pm.
WTF! The precise times that most people are free to pop down and use their services.

Same - the only reason I went there was to put money into my aib account, but aib closes for lunch too.
AIB actually have a sign up saying to speed things up, why not use the post office instead - what a novel way to run a business:D

Smondie

Hager wrote: »

I've no idea. I don't work for An Post so have no clue as to what their policies are.

It was for the reason outlined in my post.

My local post office couldn't deal with the issue, not thier department, I was sent to another one 20miles away. They're be war if tesco's or some other company refused to take returns in your local supermarket and tried to pull the same stunt.

opinionated3

Smondie wrote: »

What's the alternative?

Labour courts and employment laws? That sounds A-okay to me!

Your kidding right? !! We have a labour court in this country that is totally pro employer. ...believe me. I'm working in a large profitable multinational company and only for our union our wages and conditions would be stripped to the bare minimum if management got their way. Across the way from us is another US multinational with no union. It opened its doors around 6 years ago with decent wages and conditions to entice new workers. And guess what? ?Every year since, those conditions have been eroded away to nothing and now the workers are rebelling, resulting in a terrible working atmosphere. This despite the fact that the company makes over 100mill profit every 2 years. So yes unions may have their faults but your completely bias opinion of them is way off the mark.

cursai

sbsquarepants wrote: »

Same - the only reason I went there was to put money into my aib account, but aib closes for lunch too.
AIB actually have a sign up saying to speed things up, why not use the post office instead - what a novel way to run a business:D

What union do AIB have?

smash

opinionated3 wrote: »

Your kidding right? !! We have a labour court in this country that is totally pro employer. ...believe me. I'm working in a large profitable multinational company and only for our union our wages and conditions would be stripped to the bare minimum if management got their way. Across the way from us is another US multinational with no union. It opened its doors around 6 years ago with decent wages and conditions to entice new workers. And guess what? ?Every year since, those conditions have been eroded away to nothing and now the workers are rebelling, resulting in a terrible working atmosphere. This despite the fact that the company makes over 100mill profit every 2 years. So yes unions may have their faults but your completely bias opinion of them is way off the mark.

Unions limit productivity and hold back development, this is fact.

conorhal

Smondie wrote: »

An Posts refusal to use eircodes smacks of union nonsense. The same union doesn't seem to be bothered if the post office opens 10minutes late!

Hopefully a private company will take take over the union dismantled.

What other instances of unions cutting off thier nose to spite thier faces can you think of?

Well for once the union is in step with the rest of the citizens of this nation who are also refusing to bother with eircodes....

Smondie

conorhal wrote: »

Well for once the union is in step with the rest of the citizens of this nation who are also refusing to bother with eircodes....

Emergency services use eircodes, private couriers & me

Hager

smash wrote: »

Unions limit productivity and hold back development, this is fact.

Is it fact because you say so? Care to show us all the evidence to prove your statement?

Smondie

Hager wrote: »

Is it fact because you say so? Care to show us all the evidence to prove your statement?

Exhibit A

Captain Chaos wrote: »

Irish Rail DART drivers refusing to fully train up 9 new drivers so the company and introduce a 10 minute frequency from October.

The current drivers are saying they can't work to those times yet that is why they are to train up 9 new drivers.:rolleyes: Reason they are given is that senior drivers don't want any SPADs on their record that many happen while a new driver is driving under supervision which is total BS.

I'd be sacked if I refused to teach a new trainee in my job.

opinionated3

smash wrote: »

Unions limit productivity and hold back development, this is fact.

Productivity is up in our company as a result of company/union negotiations. So you are incorrect in that. Please don't get me wrong. ....I'm not trying to portray unions as some sort of heroic entity coming to the rescue of the humble worker. ...but they do have their uses. I know for fact that we would have been walked all over only for our union fighting for us.

FalconGirl

cursai wrote: »

What union do AIB have?

IBOA who are actually f**king useless and don't like to rock the boat too much.

sbsquarepants

cursai wrote: »

What union do AIB have?

Credit union I think, they're stone broke.:D

On the eircodes thing - we spent god knows how many millions setting up this system, that unions are apparently now refusing to use, no doubt a pay out is required for all the extra reading poor old postie has to do (no surprise there I suppose) when we could have just used googles system for free. They have mapped the entire globe and given every square (10m squared blocks I think) a unique 3 word code - it's imaginatively called what 3 words and it's free (I think) Postie could put the 3 words into his phone and google maps (also free) will bring him right to your door regardless of whether you live in Dublin city or up a mountain in Mayo, or in a cave in Azerbaijan.
Free - that's the magic word I believe.

not yet

Smondie wrote: »

An Posts refusal to use eircodes smacks of union nonsense. The same union doesn't seem to be bothered if the post office opens 10minutes late!

Hopefully a private company will take take over the union dismantled.

What other instances of unions cutting off thier nose to spite thier faces can you think of?

Yes, your spot fcuking on old chap, let them eat cake...

Sorry, did someone mention a wall by any chance..?

This anti-union/anti-leftwing nonsense roars ignorance of everything (including fundamental shifts in capitalism and inequality right now) and immaturity.

Without the unions, your children would still be going into coal mines and you'd still be paid in tokens that you could only use to buy stale, obscenely priced products in your scumbag capitalist factory owner's shop. And you may dream on about fire regulations or any protections in work or to conditions of employment.

It's the rise of the labour movement - a movement whose members were beaten, starved and murdered in their opposition to the coalition of right-wing business people and slaveen politicians (a special Hello to John Bruton's heroes, the Home Rule party politicians who owned half the slums of Dublin at the start of the 20th century and were best pals in the 1913 Lockout with William Murder Murphy and the DMP) - which brought all the great social advances of the 20th century, from free healthcare to free education to social housing.

It is no coincidence that now that these things have been achieved people have decided they're not paying for union membership, unions are weaker, rightwingers are resurgent and society is more unequal than at any time since 1930. Good old Ireland, for example, will give low taxes to ultra rich foreign corporations, but screw Irish kids by reintroducing education fees. And this, we are told by the establishment media, is "progress" and "a necessary reform". In 2016, this pattern of "rob the poor to feed the rich" is screaming at anybody who'll listen. The penny is dropping very, very, very slowly on the significance of the current rise of the right (since the 1970s, but intensifying in recent years), the concentration of far more of the world's wealth in far fewer hands, and the extraordinary growth in generational inequality largely brought on by the removal of the state from providing social housing and facilitating house building. (it is, for instance, exceedingly unlikely that somebody born into a nice area in south-east Dublin will ever be able to afford to live in a similar house there, no matter how much more education they have than their parents)

This society owes its greatest debts to James Connolly, Jim Larkin, Liam Mellows, Peadar O'Donnell, Jim Gralton, Noel Browne and the other brave souls who stood against the repressive rightwing power of West Brit politicians/Castle Catholics and the RCC. It's not so long ago since the latter in the form of the Fine Gael-led Dublin City Council, refused to give Nelson Mandela the freedom of Dublin city as he was a "terrorist".

Christy Moore's finest son, James Connolly (Prosperous, 1972), dedicated to the great Woody Guthrie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1tWwjWFmh8

AlanG

Many, possibly most, post offices are private businesses and the opening hours are set by the post master / mistress who does not work for An Post.
Unions have messed up several things
- CIE drivers refused to work Christmas day one year without massive payouts so we no longer have a bus service over Christmas as the company wer only dying for an excuse to stop running on a day when they had to pay double or treble time and had few customers.
- Unions destroyed Team Arelingus / service air and let it shut down so the older guys could get a big payout and the newbies who did most of the work had to go on the dole.

On the other hand the lack of security, pay and opportunities for the likes of Uber drivers and hassle cleaners has shown how the lack of worker power can be exploited by big companies which end up taking almost all the benefits of labour. Unions have a role but unfortunately many are lead by people who have no interest in the betterment of the worker.

Smondie

[Deleted User] wrote: »

This anti-union/anti-leftwing nonsense roars ignorance of everything (including fundamental shifts in capitalism and inequality right now) and immaturity.

Without the unions, your children would still be going into coal mines and you'd still be paid in tokens that you could only use to buy stale, obscenely priced products in your scumbag capitalist factory owner's shop.

It's the rise of the labour movement - a movement whose members were beaten, starved and murdered in their opposition to the coalition of right-wing business people and slaveen politicians (a special Hello to John Bruton's heroes, the Home Rule party politicians who owned half the slums of Dublin at the start of the 20th century and were best pals in the 1913 Lockout with William Murder Murphy and the DMP) - which brought all the great social advances of the 20th century, from free healthcare to free education to social housing.

It is no coincidence that now that these things have been achieved people have decided they're not paying for union membership, unions are weaker, rightwingers are resurgent and society is more unequal than at any time since 1930. Good old Ireland, for example, will give low taxes to ultra rich foreign corporations, but screw Irish kids by reintroducing education fees. And this, we are told by the establishment media, is "progress" and "a necessary reform". In 2016, this pattern of "rob the poor to feed the rich" is screaming at anybody who'll listen. The penny is dropping very, very, very slowly on the significance of the current rise of the right (since the 1970s, but intensifying in recent years), the concentration of far more of the world's wealth in far fewer hands, and the extraordinary growth in generational inequality largely brought on by the removal of the state from providing social housing and facilitating house building. (it is, for instance, exceedingly unlikely that somebody born into a nice area in south-east Dublin will ever be able to afford to live in a similar house there, no matter how much more education they have than their parents)

This society owes its greatest debts to James Connolly, Jim Larkin, Liam Mellows, Peadar O'Donnell, Jim Gralton, Noel Browne and the other brave souls who stood against the repressive rightwing power of West Brit politicians/Castle Catholics and the RCC. It's not so long ago since the latter in the form of the Fine Gael-led Dublin City Council, refused to give Nelson Mandela the freedom of Dublin city as he was a "terrorist".

Christy Moore's finest son, James Connolly (Prosperous, 1972), dedicated to the great Woody Guthrie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1tWwjWFmh8

Haha,yes of course.

Chips Lovell

Unions: The people who brought you the weekend.

westcoast66

MeatTwoVeg wrote: »

The post office nearest my work closes from 12.30 to 2pm.
WTF! The precise times that most people are free to pop down and use their services.

I used to work in a business park where the post was delivered at 7:30am. This would not work for us as mostly it was parcels and there was nobody there at that time to sign for them. I went down to the sorting office to explain the situation and was met with blank stares. There was no way they were changing their route, even though the post could never be delivered!

smash

Hager wrote: »

Is it fact because you say so? Care to show us all the evidence to prove your statement?

It's a fact because it's as clear as day. Irish Rail want to add another carriage to increase productivity and make the commuter's life easier? F*ck no! The guy pushing the lever needs to go on strike and demand more money because it's clearly an extra burden on him... We want to give our kids better education? F*ck no! The teachers strike because they need to up-skill... This is the kind of shít that happens every god damn month in Ireland. They upset the lives and businesses of hundreds of thousands every year!

Your Face

Onions?!
Leave my onions alone.

Ted111

The next time you get post and they give you the handheld
draw a cock instead of your signature. Let their union deal with that

bodice ripper

cursai wrote: »

What union do AIB have?

I believe it is with satan.

sbsquarepants

Unions, like a lot of organisations in this country (and others too it has to be said) have very noble intentions and done some fantastic things in their early days but they then largely became corrupt and self serving.
Many if not all of the private sector unions these days are little more than corporate gangsters, extorting fees from members in return for permission to work in a certain industry, the public sector shower have an even cushier number knowing that weak governments will give in to outrageous demands that even the most stupid private business owner simply couldn't meet because it would just bankrupt the business, no one seems to care about bankrupting the state!

A Little Pony

Usually full of communists. So I don't join any of them.

Jawgap

a union scholarship helped pay for my first masters degree......so generally I'm biased towards having them despite having long given up my membership of one.

Unions are generally pretty boring and there are loads of things they do in terms of member welfare, retired member outreach etc that are very mundane and operate under the radar, but are of singular importance.

That said, some union members and officers are, frankly, knobheads - and some members are dense enough to allow themselves to be used and led by officers and shop stewards looking to push agendas completely unrelated to improving worker conditions - that doesn't mean unions are bad, just that they allow stupid people to occasionally join and achieve a modicum of authority - just like any other organisation.

Frankly, I'd rather put up with the occasional bonkers union campaign than have IBEC operate without any counterweight!

As for Eircode - a ridiculous idea that no one wanted or needed (except the consultants who set it up) - useless.

opinionated3

So basically what some posters are saying is that factory workers like myself should just roll over and accept any old crap that management throw at us? ?

Smondie

opinionated3 wrote: »

So basically what some posters are saying is that factory workers like myself should just roll over and accept any old crap that management throw at us? ?

Negotiate individual terms based on your value to the company, mad idea, I know!

Smondie

Jawgap wrote: »

...

As for Eircode - a ridiculous idea that no one wanted or needed (except the consultants who set it up) - useless.

The words of a Townie :pac:

Emergency Services find them useful

not yet

Jep Gambardella wrote: »

Unions: The people who brought you the weekend.

And IBEC, the boys that took it back again...

Oh, and the same boys who whinged about the 10c and hour rise in the minimum wage.

Jawgap

Smondie wrote: »

The words of a Townie :pac:

Emergency Services find them useful

Do they?

The system completely lacks any intuitive basis so when you hand an Eircode over in an adrenalin driven emergency situation the operator has no immediate way to determine if the information you are providing is internally consistent......or so my neighbour the paramedic tells me......

I think you mean that the politically appointed head of the national ambulance service is muted in his criticism of the system

I'm sure you won't mind if I take the word of a [unionised] practitioner with current experience of answering calls over the word of a desk jockey

Smondie

Jawgap wrote: »

Do they?

The system completely lacks any intuitive basis so when you hand an Eircode over in an adrenalin driven emergency situation the operator has no immediate way to determine if the information you are providing is internally consistent......or so my neighbour the paramedic tells me......

I think you mean that the politically appointed head of the national ambulance service is muted in his criticism of the system

I'm sure you won't mind if I take the word of a [unionised] practitioner with current experience of answering calls over the word of a desk jockey

Can they not just Google the eircode?

I can give my address as townland, town, county. Just like the postman, They ain't going to find me!


Private couriers same problem, with an eircode, no problems so far. Apart from an post who refused to acknowledge it.