Thou shalt not strike…

[chaincey.ncfc]

A Diocese in Leicester has now joined a trade union,why the bleeding hell do they need a union rep to talk to,would they be prepared to go on strike if asked to? What’s next,vicars standing outside church’s waving placards demanding double time for working Sundays?
I hate trade unions and refused to join Unison point blank when I was at work even though I got stick for refusing to do so,going on strike because I had joined a union when the hospital was short staffed and under pressure never felt right with me

[griff]

I’m a great believer in Trade Unions but I get what you mean Chalky. When your employer is basically the Government what chance do you stand?

[howoldboy]

A Diocese in Leicester has now joined a trade union,why the bleeding hell do they need a union rep to talk to,would they be prepared to go on strike if asked to? What’s next,vicars standing outside church’s waving placards demanding double time for working Sundays?
I hate trade unions and refused to join Unison point blank when I was at work even though I got stick for refusing to do so,going on strike because I had joined a union when the hospital was short staffed and under pressure never felt right with me

It sounds like we have similar views on this Chalky.

In a democracy every one should have the right to join a trade union, or not if they don't wish to.

Having said that, when so many people in the UK are struggling to pay their bills, it never seems right to me that there are so many wealthy employers (I like to call them greedy capitalist bast**ds) who love to underpay and generally exploit their workers.

They are so successful at this that they make huge profits and then tie themselves in knots doing all they can to avoid paying tax.


https://www.theguardian.com/business...xed-not-income

[chaincey.ncfc]

You used to get Unison reps asking non members why they haven’t joined and if the Union negotiated a pay deal for the porters then I would I take the pay increase? I pointed out thst I’ve never asked for more money and I would have no choice but to accept it as we got paid the same rate

Going on strike or a overtime ban whilst there was patients who was waiting to be transferred to theatres was a unhealthy thought with me,even worst was the thought of going on strike or taking industrial action for somebody I didn’t even know,what I also didn’t like was when I first joined I was automatically had subs taken out of my wages without being asked,if I didn’t want to join then I had to go to the union office and tell them where they then knew which department you worked at and who you was

As you said howoldboy if you want to join a union then you should be allowed to do so but what if there’s only one union that you can join,my hospital only recognised Unison and when others tried to bring in another union they wasn’t recognised by the hospital so therefore wasn’t invited to meetings,it was a closed shop in many ways but I stuck by my beliefs and never joined

[chaincey.ncfc]

I’m a great believer in Trade Unions but I get what you mean Chalky. When your employer is basically the Government what chance do you stand?

I can imagine you being active in a union griff,was you ever anything more than just a paying member?

[griff]

I joined the union and was active in strikes, joining the picket lines on a couple of occasions, then the penny dropped. Whatever we did the Government simply imposed a settlement based on the ‘lower third quartile’ or summat, whatever that was. Also, the public perception of Civil Servants was quite negative so we had no external support. We were toothless so after about 10 years I awarded myself a pay increase and left the union. I was never an activist, just someone looking jealously at the private sector in the days when their pay and pensions looked very generous. All that changed of course after Thatcher when the private pension crisis hit and wages stopped improving. Then we became even more unpopular because we still had final salary schemes (now gone) and managed to get a small pay increase every year. I eventually took the most generous offer I ever had when I took early retirement at 53, so it wasn’t all bad.

[chaincey.ncfc]

We were toothless so after about 10 years I awarded myself a pay increase and left the union.

.

You awarded yourself a pay increase,you jest surely?

I always thought that if somebody had an interest in politics then they usually had something to do with trade unions,the two seem to go hand in hand to me so another reason not to pay my subs and let them get in with it whilst I did my job

[Blackdogblue]

I see it from the other side… I understand the cost of living issues we all face but Strikes are not the answer.. as they are unpaid as such, striking for an extra couple of % pay increase is ridiculous… may be a point of principle but they lose more pay than they gain by doing so…
It affects the Company in reputation and lost sales from a manufacturing scenario meaning less profit to allow a higher pay rise and some companies go under because of it.

[chaincey.ncfc]

If you took industrial action that Unison had organised then you got paid your normal working rate so you didn’t lose out financially

During the miners strike though people like Arthur Scargill (spit) still got their wages unlike the miners who went through tremendous hardship,it’s easier to see a strike through to the bitter end if you’re not losing out every week,just another reason not to join a union if you ask me

[chaincey.ncfc]

Having looked a little deeper into the story the diocese in Leicester has joined the union Unite which seems to be about Transport more than God,worryingly they have connections to the Labour Party which suprised me as I didn’t realise that unions followed polical party’s like a newspaper would

Whst if the diocese wanted to take do some kind of strike action in the future,to get your union behind you I would expect that you would be asking atheists and other faith believers to back you up and this isn’t going to work,it’s a terrible idea and they should be ashamed of themselves and get back to spreading the good word instead