Attacking trade unions and trade unionism

[Sprocket.]

And an injury to one is an injury to all.

An attack on one is an attack on all!

 

[Sprocket.]

Just heard that Tata steel is finishing 700 at their Rotherham plant.
The workforce were expecting it because they had voted for industrial action over the theft by Tata from the workers pension fund. The company was reducing the amounts that should have been paid under existing conditions. Tata had also raised the prospect of taking agreed holidays from the workforce.
The ageing workforce working in extremely demanding conditions were poised to take action against this outrage too.
So faced with industrial action Tata have carried out their threat to close the plant and move production overseas.
Tata you can stick your Tetley's teabags up your fucking arse!
Boycotting all their products from now on.

 

[Pickman's model]

ttfn

 

[Libertad]

Just heard that Tata steel is finishing 700 at their Rotherham plant.
The workforce were expecting it because they had voted for industrial action over the theft by Tata from the workers pension fund. The company was reducing the amounts that should have been paid under existing conditions. Tata had also raised the prospect of taking agreed holidays from the workforce.
The ageing workforce working in extremely demanding conditions were poised to take action against this outrage too.
So faced with industrial action Tata have carried out their threat to close the plant and move production overseas.
Tata you can stick your Tetley's teabags up your fucking arse!
Boycotting all their products from now on.

The MSM is running with "crippling energy costs." Do you know which union/unions represent these workers @Sprocket ?

 

[Lo Siento.]

The MSM is running with "crippling energy costs." Do you know which union/unions represent these workers @Sprocket ?

Community I would presume...

 

[belboid]

Community, yes - and its not just Rotherham, jobs going from Stocksbridge too. Labour deputy contender Sarah Champion rather lets Tata off the hook as well, no mention of the strike plan in her remarks about the job losses, we cant be attacking business now, can we?

 

[treelover]

Just heard that Tata steel is finishing 700 at their Rotherham plant.
The workforce were expecting it because they had voted for industrial action over the theft by Tata from the workers pension fund. The company was reducing the amounts that should have been paid under existing conditions. Tata had also raised the prospect of taking agreed holidays from the workforce.
The ageing workforce working in extremely demanding conditions were poised to take action against this outrage too.
So faced with industrial action Tata have carried out their threat to close the plant and move production overseas.
Tata you can stick your Tetley's teabags up your fucking arse!
Boycotting all their products from now on.

Tata Steel own Tetley?!

disaster for South Yorkshire this,

 

[gimesumtruf]

They are doing their chest thumping, blitz kreig and boot stomping all at once, can't help themselves.
They'll be sniggering and planning world domination in the holidays, after all they have made Britain the most job creating fiscally sound country in the western world(statistics and damn statistics).

 

[denniseagle]

Yeah, but how many union members actively choose to fund Labour via their subs?

I had to actively opt out of giving them money rather than opt in.

Just because the Tories are wrong doesn't mean the way union barons hand over millions to a party that actively works against the day to day interests of their members (at work and in their communities) is right

I seem to recall the wicked witch brought some thing in concerning the political levy way back in the 1980's anyone else remember precisely what it was?

 

[cesare]

I seem to recall the wicked witch brought some thing in concerning the political levy way back in the 1980's anyone else remember precisely what it was?

I think it was (a) the introduction of periodic ballot of members about the establishment of and maintenance of political funds - every 10 years is where we are now, I think, though a trade unionist would know more; and (b) the introduction of the provision of opting out of the political levy aspect of membership dues.

http://7f11a30961219bd1a71e-b9527bc...0 memcon POL LEVY THCR 2-6-3-74 part1 f93.pdf

 

[denniseagle]

I think it was (a) the introduction of periodic ballot of members about the establishment of and maintenance of political funds - every 10 years is where we are now, I think, though a trade unionist would know more; and (b) the introduction of the provision of opting out of the political levy aspect of membership dues.

http://7f11a30961219bd1a71e-b9527bc5dce0df4456f4c5548db2e5c2.r10.cf1.rackcdn.com/840112 No10 memcon POL LEVY THCR 2-6-3-74 part1 f93.pdf

That's it, knew it was something to do with opting out so why does it need to be done again??If the opt out option is already available what is this new bit of legislation let them do?

 

[weltweit]

.. Tata you can stick your Tetley's teabags up your fucking arse!
Boycotting all their products from now on.

I continue my boycott of Jaguar and Land Rover, but I think it might be tricky to identify all the products that Tata steel goes into. I imagine it would cover a lot of items.

 

[J Ed]

That's it, knew it was something to do with opting out so why does it need to be done again??If the opt out option is already available what is this new bit of legislation let them do?

The Tories want to make it so that you actively have to opt in rather than out.

 

[butchersapron]

Trade union membership has fallen further than ever before

This morning the government published the latest estimates for trade union membership in the UK, they make for grim – but important – reading for anyone in favour of a healthy union movement. Here are 5 key points to take away from the statistics.

1. Membership levels have fallen by a quarter of a million in just one year
2. Growing employment and falling union membership means that trade union density has also fallen sharply
3. This year’s fall was driven by declining membership rates in the public sector
4. Trade union membership is still predominantly composed of well-paid, public sector workers
5. If recent trends continue, the future is bleak for the UK trade union movement

Last year, we published estimates for where trade union membership would be in 15 years’ time if the trends over the first five years of this decade continued into the future. Today, we have revised that projection in light of figures for 2016 and it has deteriorated accordingly: if the past is a good guide to the future, trade union membership will be under 17 per cent by the end of the 2020s. Without an embracing of new ways of working and finding new organisations to work with, trade unions might may well end up being a 20th century aberration.

 

[Mr.Bishie]

Hardly surprising in my union, when they endorse more police violence against fracking protesters. Tim Roache is a fuckin cock - thought Kenny was bad! Totally fucked off with the lot of it.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

The report indicates that 90% of the private sector workforce are not unionised. This is despite the recent growth in private sector employment and the attendant exploitation, low pay, insecurity and poor employment practises.

There are some excellent examples and thinking about how unions could seriously begin to organise the precariat/service employees.

But the starting points would have to be a) putting the immediate interests of workers and not the interests of the union first and be seen to do so b) an end to trying to rake money in from workers before the union has actually done something for them - like winning better pay. Workers should join free and start to pay when the union and their collective organsiation and strength starts to get results c) unions need to fundamentally reassess their methods, organisation, labout party obsession and refusal to challenge the law.

So, expect the decline to continue...

 

[Miss-Shelf]

The report indicates that 90% of the private sector workforce are not unionised. This is despite the recent growth in private sector employment and the attendant exploitation, low pay, insecurity and poor employment practises.

There are some excellent examples and thinking about how unions could seriously begin to organise the precariat/service employees.

But the starting points would have to be a) putting the immediate interests of workers and not the interests of the union first and be seen to do so b) an end to trying to rake money in from workers before the union has actually done something for them - like winning better pay. Workers should join free and start to pay when the union and their collective organsiation and strength starts to get results c) unions need to fundamentally reassess their methods, organisation, labout party obsession and refusal to challenge the law.

So, expect the decline to continue...

It's not the Labour party that local branches warm to in my experience

 

[Smokeandsteam]

It's not the Labour party that local branches warm to in my experience

Leavng aside the millions of pounds the unions hand over to labour, the resources they pour into labour party politics and their mute response when labour councils cut thousands of public sector jobs - the biggest problem is that the election of a labour government and a reliance on that government to legislate 'fairly' is the summit of their poltiical ambition. Of course that's important but not at the expense of promoting and supporting collective confidence and action and thinking through what achieving that might actually require.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Bizarre stuff from John Harris in The Guardian. He correctly argues that TU bureaucrats are a signifcant barrier to organising workers in the post industrial economy. But he then goes on to suggest replacing them with black/women leaders will somehow solve the problem of inertia/dead end labourism/irrelevance. This seems to suggest that an infusion of colour and gender will make ossified structures alive again by magic. He cites Frances fucking O'Grady, Brenda Dean and Bill Morris as examples

He then goes on to praise the work of the IWGB and other unions who operate well outside the dead suffocation of TUC structures that these role models all operated in and facilitated.

I don't know if this is a weird attempt to add to other weird attempts to cleave labour and the unions or not but as a national newspaper analysis of trade unionism it's barmy.

Adapt or die: a new breed of trade union can save the fossils of old | John Harris

 

[The39thStep]

Bizarre stuff from John Harris in The Guardian. He correctly argues that TU bureaucrats are a signifcant barrier to organising workers in the post industrial economy. But he then goes on to suggest replacing them with black/women leaders will somehow solve the problem of inertia/dead end labourism/irrelevance. This seems to suggest that an infusion of colour and gender will make ossified structures alive again by magic. He cites Frances fucking O'Grady, Brenda Dean and Bill Morris as examples

He then goes on to praise the work of the IWGB and other unions who operate well outside the dead suffocation of TUC structures that these role models all operated in and facilitated.

I don't know if this is a weird attempt to add to other weird attempts to cleave labour and the unions or not but as a national newspaper analysis of trade unionism it's barmy.

Adapt or die: a new breed of trade union can save the fossils of old | John Harris

Manages to churn out a mixture of excellent articles and insightful analysis with utter dross.

 

[redsquirrel]

Manages to churn out a mixture of excellent articles and insightful analysis with utter dross.

Generally I think his video pieces are better than the stuff he writes, maybe because he has to go off what others say to him.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Where the fuck have we ended up - a place where the only real chance of any of this being changed is the house of lords.

Everything about this is vile and a sign of much we've lost. The only possible positives are that in order to get a strike, union officials and reps - at least where there are enough of them - will have to get out and talk to members. And who knows, there might be the development of new creative tactics to get round this legislation.

As a PCS rep, and one time office Vice Chair, the red highlight is your problem.

Someone comes up to speak, you organise a hall etc, twelve people turn up, and seven of them are Reps.

Private Eye printed this a while back:

 

[friendofdorothy]

Bizarre stuff from John Harris in The Guardian. He correctly argues that TU bureaucrats are a signifcant barrier to organising workers in the post industrial economy. But he then goes on to suggest replacing them with black/women leaders will somehow solve the problem of inertia/dead end labourism/irrelevance. This seems to suggest that an infusion of colour and gender will make ossified structures alive again by magic. He cites Frances fucking O'Grady, Brenda Dean and Bill Morris as examples

He then goes on to praise the work of the IWGB and other unions who operate well outside the dead suffocation of TUC structures that these role models all operated in and facilitated.

I don't know if this is a weird attempt to add to other weird attempts to cleave labour and the unions or not but as a national newspaper analysis of trade unionism it's barmy.

Adapt or die: a new breed of trade union can save the fossils of old | John Harris

Not -sure he was suggesting that 'an infusion of colour and gender' would help - I read it as asking why were men over represented in the management of unions. Did you not read this bit:

Last week, I spoke to a female staff member at a big union who sees at first hand how unions too often stifle potential. “If you make a request for flexible working, it almost feels as if you’re asking for a favour; you start to feel like you’re doing something wrong,” she said. I have also recently heard the story of a female union official who was granted flexible arrangements to look after children – but only on the condition that she was demoted. Meanwhile, the men who can put the hours in continue to rise to climb the ladder: a journey that will usually end with a comfortable salary and a long spell at the top.

It's talking about a structural problem that exists in too many workplaces - how can a union represent it's female members to tackle the problems of inequality in their workplace, with problems to do with low paid /part-time work, when it has those problems in its own workplace?

Three-quarters of Unison members are women. But insiders talk about an already bad situation that is getting worse. “Women are being replaced by men: the heads of regions are a good example,” one insider says. She goes on: “If you visit Unison’s HQ, you’ll have no idea most of our members are women. Women are tacked on to what the union does. They’re not at the heart of it.”

Perhaps like a lot of those female members, I've have been a union member in a non-unionised workplace with no union reps and no other union members, for years now, in p/t low paid work and still have no idea how to get help, get involved or learn more. Still don't really.

(and if one more fucking urb tells me to organise my own union/ shop/ action when I have no union experience, knowledge or energy, I will scream)

 

[redsquirrel]

Someone comes up to speak, you organise a hall etc, twelve people turn up, and seven of them are Reps.

Slightly more than 12 at the UCU meetings last week, and more than that number outside UCU HQ last Tuesday.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Slightly more than 12 at the UCU meetings last week, and more than that number outside UCU HQ last Tuesday.

The UCU strikes look like they are gathering momentum and support rather than petering out. Brilliant stuff and let's hope they force the employer to tear up their pensions cuts.

But organising college workers is not the problem facing trade unions. Organising in the private services sector - small contracts, lots of part time staff, lots of workers with more than one job, high turnover etc is.

 

[redsquirrel]

The UCU strikes look like they are gathering momentum and support rather than petering out. Brilliant stuff and let's hope they force the employer to tear up their pensions cuts.

But organising college workers is not the problem facing trade unions. Organising in the private services sector - small contracts, lots of part time staff, lots of workers with more than one job, high turnover etc is.

Wouldn't disagree with that at all, I was just trying to make the point when unions show they are willing to fight members are willing to turn up to meetings/get involved, and non-members join.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Wouldn't disagree with that at all, I was just trying to make the point when unions show they are willing to fight members are willing to turn up to meetings/get involved, and non-members join.

And when you have a cast iron wrongful dismissal case that the member cannot fund, and the union point blank refuses, that too has an effect on membership and morale.

That really was the beginning of my withdrawal from union affairs, I resigned as a Rep and eventually resigned as a member. I was a trained Rep, and the union wouldn't fund an IT case if I needed it, so what could they do for me that I couldn't do myself.

I continued to represent people more or less up until I retired as 'companion'. Managers (one level above me) in particular used my services because they neither liked nor trusted the Office Chair, who would normally have handled their cases.

Edited to add: IIRC Industrial Tribunal fees have been abolished.

 

[redsquirrel]

And when you have a cast iron wrongful dismissal case that the member cannot fund, and the union point blank refuses, that too has an effect on membership and morale.

Yes, that's the point I just made.

 

[Sasaferrato]

Wouldn't disagree with that at all, I was just trying to make the point when unions show they are willing to fight members are willing to turn up to meetings/get involved, and non-members join.

Back in the days of big workplaces close to where people lived, organising meetings was perhaps not such a problem. We had people that were travelling fifty miles or more to get to work.

Then we had year on year of firstly no pay increase, then 1%, plus attacks on our pensions, and the PCS hierarchy too busy fighting amongst themselves.

Over 15 years I watched a vibrant union structure wither and die. We had over 90% membership in an office of 300 when the office opened, barely half that when I left. You felt like the chap pushing the stone up the hill, realising that if it was something you could sort in the office, great, if you had to go even to Branch, no chance.

Unions need to realise that meeting the needs of their members is paramount.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Wouldn't disagree with that at all, I was just trying to make the point when unions show they are willing to fight members are willing to turn up to meetings/get involved, and non-members join.

A point Harris seems to overlook in his article,
despite Waddington and other studies of TU membership and engagement demonstrating that this is the case in every sector.