Anyone here a member of a trade union

Shaque attack · 25-11-2004 10:50PM

Oral Slang wrote:

thought that myself initially, but I think it's more our accounts department who never processed my form to start deducting my dues..
theres talk of possible strikes soon & I presume if I don't pay into the union, I'll get nothing!

if thats the case, would that not mean you haven't joined the union? if so tell your union rep and get in the union before any strike begins. if you're a memeber and they haven't deducted the fees its their fault not yours but you should probably still tell them. Either way i dont think you'll have to pay back fees

Oral Slang · 25-11-2004 11:15PM

No I'm definitely a member which is why I never noticed anything odd. When I joined initially I got stuff from them in the post & get the newsletters regularly..
Some people I asked said that that had happened to someone they knew before and they ended up having to pay it back.
Ah well, I know I'll have to tell them, just afraid of the answer.
Thanks for the advice!

WhiteWashMan · 25-11-2004 11:37PM

John R wrote:

I believe conceited is EXACTLY what you want to appear to be.

perhaps i am concieted, but that doesnt really bother me.

i just wouldnt want to work somewhere where my wages are dictated by other people that i dont trust.
i know what unions are like remember, ive been there, done that and worn the badge.
thats my experience, thats my opinion, and if i want to work somewhere without a union and earn a shed load of cash, thats my perogative as well.
if you dont like, then i humbly suggest you go and find something else to read.
not everyone in the world wants to work a factory floor for the rest of their life.

dendenz · 26-11-2004 12:27AM

WhiteWashMan wrote:

perhaps i am concieted, but that doesnt really bother me.

i just wouldnt want to work somewhere where my wages are dictated by other people that i dont trust.
i know what unions are like remember, ive been there, done that and worn the badge.
thats my experience, thats my opinion, and if i want to work somewhere without a union and earn a shed load of cash, thats my perogative as well.
if you dont like, then i humbly suggest you go and find something else to read.
not everyone in the world wants to work a factory floor for the rest of their life.

Exactly you would rather work somewhere where if things go bad they would turn around and drop your wages. What would you do, god forbidden all harm, if your company turned around tommorrow and said we are moving to India/China as costs are lower or we need all staff to take a pay cut. You would probably find another job, maybe not as well paid or you could turn around and say "hang on a minute, we have to stand up for ourselves". Unions are not some organisiation run by a dictator. Its run by a number of people who make democratic decisions that benefit all.

WhiteWashMan · 26-11-2004 11:51AM

dendenz wrote:

Exactly you would rather work somewhere where if things go bad they would turn around and drop your wages. What would you do, god forbidden all harm, if your company turned around tommorrow and said we are moving to India/China as costs are lower or we need all staff to take a pay cut. You would probably find another job, maybe not as well paid or you could turn around and say "hang on a minute, we have to stand up for ourselves". Unions are not some organisiation run by a dictator. Its run by a number of people who make democratic decisions that benefit all.

i think my point was i wouldnt work in a situation where that was likely to happen.
also, its against the law to drop someones wages without their agreement.
they also cannot relocate you without your prior agreement and you also get to negotiate your contract.

i have never said that unions are bad.
i have said i was in one, i was a shop steward in one, and i dont like tham.
i also said a union was only as strong as the people in it. if you dont have everyone involved, then you have no power, and you are wasting your money.

i have also put myself in a position where i am able to command a position where these things dont happen, and where unions are not needed.

if all went south in my job tomorrow, i would quite happily get another job on at least the same salary within a week.

that is why i have said that my opinion of unions is that i wont work with them.
i have not said they are not needed.

so before people go blasting at me, im telling from my perspective.

but again, even though im 'conceited' for pointing out that unions are generally more accepted in more manual and menial type workplaces like factories etc, it still has to be pointed out that by and large, this is true. unions are big in these sorts of areas, and these are not the sort of areas where i want to work becasue a) i dont like manual, menial or shift work, and b) the pay is crap, and c) there is no effort at employee retention and hence no effort at employee satisfaction, all leading to the need for a union.

of course, i f i work in a nice enviroment, i love my job, i get paid loads of cash, and i have a lot of fun, why the hell would i join a union?

WhiteWashMan · 26-11-2004 11:53AM

dendenz wrote:

Its run by a number of people who make democratic decisions that benefit all.

so was soviet russia.

ive seen the higher echelons of SIPTU, and my god, its not too fúcking dissimilar.

snowball and neopoleon were both there....

Victor · 27-11-2004 03:32PM

elivsvonchiaing wrote:

Management staff did not earn enough to employ house-maids/butlers in the 1980's but unions of this time drew their mentality from the 1920's.

Yeah, they got au-pairs instead of maids, much cheaper and easier to turn-over (in the various senses of the word).

sliabh wrote:

From a management point of view it can be quite good to have one organisation to go to to get agreements in the company. They can also be good for bringing worker complaints to management attention where sometimes an individual worker might not be happy to go to a manager. And despite what you often hear managers and management are not ogres looking to screw employees for everything they can. I was an employee and person too.

Of course companies don't spend their whole time screwing over staff. They need to reserve some time for screwing over customers and suppliers.

dendenz · 02-12-2004 10:29PM

Update have got another project in the building on board... is looking good !

Agent Smith · 02-12-2004 11:12PM

was in a trade union, then left the company... doesnt bother me tho

luckat · 03-12-2004 11:27AM

I'm prejudiced here - better announce that first. My family have always been strong for the union; both my father and my grandfather *founded* unions in their time.

I've been in good unions and bad ones. While self-employed, I couldn't get paid by a crooked contractor - my union put the contractor's name in the newsletter, and I was paid pronto (10 post-dated cheques, which I brought down one by one to the issuing bank and cashed as the dates came up!) This was after *two years* of trying to get paid. The Small Claims Court doesn't deal with pay for work, so I couldn't use that route.

Working in cafes when I was a babby, the union took their cut and did damn all to ensure that we were properly paid, had decent hours and conditions - or even that the employers paid in the tax and PRSI they deducted from our wages, which they did not do. That was the old Women Workers' Union.

I don't mind having my wages dictated by others: it's done by negotiation, and I'm able to talk to my shop stewards with everyone else and put our point before the bargain's done; the "dictation" doesn't happen without our agreement.

Some people are good at negotiating higher wages, others are not. Having a shop steward or two to do that negotiation helps the weaker people.

I had really bad bosses in a couple of jobs, and invariably those were jobs that weren't unionised. The bosses could do what they liked.

And when I worked for a place that went blooey, the union (including me) was the force that got people money before the dole kicked in, sorted as many as possible out with new work, and generally made sure everyone was ok.

Currently I'm very, very lucky in my bosses in the several places where I'm working. But it's still good to have the protection of a union so that if one person becomes the target of any bullying, everyone clusters round them and sorts things out for them.

I well remember my mother telling me about one of the big creameries in Dublin in the 1950s or so, where the workers boasted that they were much better paid than the unionised shops. Then they came in one day and found that the owners had done a midnight flit. If they'd had a union they could have had some comeback - at the very least, the union would have had more idea of what was going on. As it was, they were left flat.

Working people, whether they're well-paid professionals or manual workers, need to hang together; otherwise, as they say, we shall assuredly hang separately.

Anyone here a member of a trade union

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