I remember mine was particularly useless. Union reps were usually bought with promotions.
such a ray of sunshine!!
...which then led to the demise of the British car industry and the coalmines. What a great move that was! Not exactly helpful to those union members who lost money striking and then lost their jobs.
The car industry was uncompetitive. Closure of the coal mines was Government policy. You would expect workers to resist real wage cuts if they are in a position to do so.
But they weren't in a position to do so. A company near here held a vote a few years back, a cut in wages for everyone, or redundancies for some. The vote was overwhelmingly in favour of the pay cut. Less pay is better than none.
First you are arguing that they are too powrful, then that they are not powerful enough. The situation in the 70's and post the financial crisis are different. There have been several examples where workers have accepted pay cuts or short time working in order to maintain employment levels since the financial crisis. This doesn't suggest that they are inflexible. It suggests they are weak. They have been unable to resist falling real wages.
What I meant was that the resulting job losses meant that although it seemed they were all powerful in fact they did more harm than good for those communities which relied on those industries. Is that real power when you cut your nose to spite your face?
Rising wages do not inevitably lead to job losses. I would argue that unions have been forced to be more pragmatic in their approach to negotiations given the circumstances since the financial crisis. Remember that we have not had rising wages for the last ten years. We have had falling wages. This is probably the explanation why unemployment did not rise as high as expected. Firms tend to want to use 'cheap' labour instead of investing in plant and machinery like our competitors do; but that is why we keep lagging behind.
Hi I am a type 1 diabetic and have been for nearly 50 years. The attitudes and comments I have encountered in most if not all of my working life is horrendous. I have been spoken to like a child and my last job I have just resigned from due to the harassment and bullying I received when asking for unpaid leave for my hospital appointments. I was told I had to take holidays for these appointments and ultimately I had to bring in a Union rep then I was finally given the unpaid leave that I originally requested. I was laughed at by my manager for having the text on my computer screen larger than normal due to issues with eyes. I feel like I have had to fight for my entitlement with large as well as small companies. It is not easy having diabetes and it is made extremely difficult if you get an employer that does not understand or cares.
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That is absolutely awful. I am very sorry to hear you've had such a bad experience.
I'm type 2, diagnosed 18 months ago....when I informed the HR officer of our small charitable organisation she said 'Oh god, does this mean we all need to go on some training in case something happens to you whilst you're in work!". Another colleague remarked that I shouldn't be too upset, because 'at least you can get diabetic jams and stuff'. That's alright then.
