unions

[sheilapl]

I was wondering if anyone had any bad reports about their union reps, cause I did. I was going through an appeal at work for unfair dismissal. When I got my appeal date I emailed Steve and texted him to no avail, I got no answer, weeks past, I called the head quarters only to be informed that Steve had forgotten to mention that I had to keep my membership going for him to represent me, so it was a case of he only did what he got paid for, so to me it meant nothing to him, it was something he was paid for at the end of the day.

[charlie]

So, you stopped paying your union dues, but still expected your trade union to continue to represent you?

[Garnet]

If it was unfair dismissal then the Union Rep should have known with no wages coming in then no union dues would be paid/deducted.....duh.....so....the 'rep' should have advised the person of this, plus how about all the money paid into same union when not needed. I believe Unions are, sorry were a protection for the 'ordinary' working person and not as they seem to be hand in managements pockets, in my experience anyway. My advice for what it's worth is for Sheilapl to go for it themself if their case is strong and don't be afraid to challenge ex-employer you can only win or lose but your point could be made for others to see. Hope this helps. G

[Walter Ego]

Were you a paid-up member when you were dismissed and were you a paid up member when you first contacted the union?

[sheilapl]

Yes I was a paid-up member when I was dismissed. I had paid into the union for well over 13 years and never needed any come back from them until now. My point exactly Garnet "thanks" I thought they were a protection for the 'ordinary' working person and not as they seem to be hand in managements pockets. I dont care if I win or loose but I dont like the way thye are treating folks and getting off with it. I wonder has any others had bad experiences with them.

[theone]

My experience of the unions is that the shop stewards, the volunteers from the workorce, are generally very good with the right intentions. I have however seen more than one use the shop steward position as a path to promotion or into management, at the expense of the union members.

My experiences of the full time officials have been very poor. I've never been given any impression other than they are only there to make money and care very little for their paying members.

I haven't been in the union since changing jobs many years ago, and I have no wish to join again.

[Walter Ego]

Yes I was a paid-up member when I was dismissed. I had paid into the union for well over 13 years and never needed any come back from them until now. My point exactly Garnet "thanks" I thought they were a protection for the 'ordinary' working person and not as they seem to be hand in managements pockets. I dont care if I win or loose but I dont like the way thye are treating folks and getting off with it. I wonder has any others had bad experiences with them.

In that case bypass the rep and go straight to Head Office - if you were a union member at the time of your dismissal then any union worth it's salt should back you up.

Regarding unions and shop stewards, I've seen good and bad in both. Some unions are nothing more a than a branch of labour/left wing politics who care very little about the workforce and who try to instil a confrontational and us/them approach to everything whilst others are good negotiators and are genuine in their dealing with their members and management too.

The same applies with reps - some are excellent who won't take any crap off anyone but can handle 'situations' intelligently but, unfortunately, there are more than a few who are wannabee managers who prefer wielding a clipboard to working or just self-centred and useless individuals. There's some dinosaurs out there, I'm afraid.

Good luck.

Walter (long time AEU member back in the day).

[squidge]

I have been a union rep in a different life and had need of full time officials on a couple of occasions. They were always excellent. If you are not happy then go straight to their head office. Ask for help from another rep and you should see an improvement

[sheilapl]

The priciples of a union must be all different today, I explained to their Head office that as a result of the Rep not doing his job and advising me to continue with membership and I missed out on getting represented through my appeals. The more I spoke to folk regarding this issue the more are saying the same about the fact that it is money the Unions want more than fighting for their members, this was the CWU which are meant to work for the Workers. Well said Walter, this union Rep was made up to a team manager shortly after I was dismissed.

[*Martin*]

As soon as I read your original post I could tell you were on about the CWU. They stuffed me over last year also.

Five years ago I was in a pretty horrific RTC in which I had multiple fractures in both legs, collapsed lungs etc. etc. I was in hospital for two months, a wheel chair for 6 after and then crutches on and off for a couple of years. I am pinned top to bottom in one leg. This all resulted in my hip and my back going to the gutters as well as arthritis in my left knee and right wrist! I'm in my mid 20s and there are people in their 60s with healthier bodies.

The union stepped in and said "Hey, we'll sort your compensation case" That was easy I thought to myself. The following few years were a mix of doctors’ appointments in Edinburgh that I had to pay by myself whilst out of work (The same 3 appointments repeated 4 times - twice for each side) Filling out the same forms multiple times because they were going missing etc. etc.

I'll point out at this stage that I was offered "amount X" about 20months after my accident by the other side that was deemed far too low by the CWU and my solicitor. They wanted at least 4 times "amount X"

Nearly five years later I was packing my bags on a Friday for a week in court starting on the Monday. I got a phone call from the head office to tell me that they were no longer willing to go to court. There was a chance I would lose and not get any more than "amount X" I said there was a chance I would've lost from the very start and they never had any reservations then. I would never have taken their offer to oversee my case if I had known this is how it would've turned out!!! The plank on the other end of the phone only said "This is the way it is"

Here’s where it gets more annoying, If I had taken amount X when I was offered it, I would have had to pay back £3-4k for the benefits I had claimed to that point. Because several years had passed the amount deducted from "amount X" was just shy of £20k.

And here comes the real sickener...... both solicitors made more ££££ out of the case than the offer off "amount X" before deductions!!!!

A quick warning to anyone in the CWU: Think long and hard, will these people really be able to help you in the long run?

Sorry if parts of that rant are incoherent, there is still a very bitter taste in my mouth!

I’d like to point out that I had absolutely no problem with my Local Rep

[cptdodger]

If you are not happy with the representation you did, or in your case did not receive from your union rep, then contact ACAS,(http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461) they will help if you were part of a union or not.

[Bazeye]

My experience of the unions is that the shop stewards, the volunteers from the workorce, are generally very good with the right intentions. I have however seen more than one use the shop steward position as a path to promotion or into management, at the expense of the union members.

My experiences of the full time officials have been very poor. I've never been given any impression other than they are only there to make money and care very little for their paying members.

I haven't been in the union since changing jobs many years ago, and I have no wish to join again.

The other reason they want membership dues is to subsidise the Labour Party. If you dont vote labour why subsidise them? You can however still pay your union dues without subsidising the labour Party by writing to head office and tell them to cancel your political levy, which is about a third of the total you pay.

[Bazeye]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2016418/Derek-Simpson-Former-union-boss-pocketed-500k-golden-goodbye.html

[sadam]

could they all be in that famous group where they do funny hand shakes where they all look after each other and get big pay off's so they will be ok