Are any of you lads a member of a trade union? How have you found it and does membership justify the cost?
I've been considering whether I should join my works one but, from speakers to members, it seems like they don't get a whole lot of benefit from what isn't an insignificant membership fee. In addition to this I'm looking at the union parties and they seem pretty disconnected to the day to day thoughts of their members. It reminds me of student union politics. I get that they will help you with employment disputes but I'm not sure how much that is worth.
>>13246 >it seems like they don't get a whole lot of benefit from what isn't an insignificant membership fee
Define your terms here. What is the perceived benefit, and where do you perceive it to fall down next to the fees?
I'm not part of the union at my work because I'm not a high up enough member of staff to have a horse in the race if it ever comes to redundancies or what have you. I'll just get another job and not really give a fuck.
If I was higher up I'd very definitely be in the union because I'd have a reason to care- Contract changes to on call pay recently come to mind. Doesn't affect me but they've basically managed to keep this deal where they get nearly as much in overtime as their basic wage, because the union keeps throwing a spanner in the works every time they try to change it.
Some stuff they are powerless to affect and don't try. Some people at my place piss and moan about how the union doesn't do anything for them, but that's because those people are expecting the union to do things the union isn't supposed to do. You don't get to just tell your boss you want to work 8-4 instead of 9-5 and then expect the union to back you up. Of course they won't, and you're off your rocker if you think they will.
TL;DR the more money and vested interest you have the more worthwhile it's being in the union. There's basically no point at all if you're at an entry level position in a given organisation.
>>13246 >I get that they will help you with employment disputes but I'm not sure how much that is worth.
Be aware that as a general policy, you won't be able to get help unless you are already a member at the time the dispute arises. In other words, you can't get into trouble and then join the union to get their help.
This may not be helpful, but I tend to join unions out of principle more than anything. Unions that are ineffectual tend to be that way because they're operating in industries with massive historical defeats, and a resulting lack money and support.
It can certainly be a bit of a sideshow with its own weird internal politics, but it's one way of lending a bit of weight to worker's rights in an otherwise authoritarian system of work.
Ironically, the times in my life where I could have most used a union, none were available because of the nature of the job. Temporary workers rarely join unions or stay around long enough to satisfactorily resolve disputes, so they've invariably been the ones with the most unreasonable conditions and miserable work environments.
Easily the strongest union I've ever paid into was when I was with the NHS. There's a few different choices, there, but the one I looked at seemed to really take care to resolve disputes and they actually had some credibility.
