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Saturday 3 September 2022

Unions do not want to strike

There has been interesting discussions about unions.  Some say that they are against people being in work. Well, let me say, that considering they depend on people who are working joining them, that is an insane argument. At the moment, unions are being portrayed as being happy to strike. Those in work want to work, they, like the unions who represent them want employees to be working. But the main reason for strikes right now, in my view, is the lack of action by the government on the cost of living crisis, as well as the lack of action when it comes to energy bills.  Decent action by the government on these issues would have resulted in less of a call for increased wages. That and action to prevent bonuses being paid to the rich. Action may take place once Liz Truss is elected, but considering that she is more interested in tax cuts, I doubt that she will address things. At least she is not as bad as Rishi Sunak who has actively taken money from where it is needed to reward Conservative voting constituencies.  


Unions represent workers who want to work and want employers to engage in reasonable discussions rather than strike. Things are more difficult when the government does not allow negotiations to be fair, but the idiocy they show on this is reflected in other areas of how they are mismanaging our great nation. 

I have noted in my job, that when seeing people with work induced stress, people who are members of a union are treated better than those who are not.  Management appears to be more careful in treating a member of a union compared with those who are not in one.  Although the same laws apply to those who are or not in a union (due to the work of the unions), due to the advocacy that workers in a union get, employment law appears to be followed better in these cases.


I however had joined a union before I saw (in my job) how unions had helped others.  And by being part of a union, in one of my jobs, our employment rights, which had been bent by our employer, were followed when challenged.  We had tried to discuss this matter without the help of the union, but we got no where, but when our union was involved, they told us what we needed to do to bring about the change we asked for, and once we did that, our employer had no choice but to accept that they were not following employment law.


My union has not always been successful in bringing about change, but I know that like other union members across the planet, I have more security from being in a union, compared to not being in one.