fodentanker:
My Terms and Conditions have been under threat since 1999.Without a strong Union my Pay, Pension and Holiday Entitlement along with my working conditions would have all been changed and not for the better.
The Union’s are only as strong as it’s Members.
Absolutely,
I don’t care how much the GMB are up ASDAs arse, it’d be a worse place without them.
Juddian:
S’funny, same old anti union bile from the usual suspects.Its no coincidence that unionised jobs have better terms and conditions than non unionised, but never let the facts get in the way of prejudice, if you don’t want to join a union don’t, but don’t winge and moan about the 75 hour week you’re doing for the same money as drivers on unionised companies get for 44 hours, and for pete’s sake stop counting your night out allowances as part of your take home pay, no wonder the job still pays peanuts for so many.
But the ones who really get my goat are those work for good companies with proper union recognition, they won’t join the union yet have no trouble trousering the pay rise they’ve had every single year negotiated by the stewards and correctly voted on by the dues paying members…and in keeping up half wit lorry driver tradition, moan about it too.
You are describing ASDA perfectly in that last statement!!!
As an example they can work if a powerful union has enough of a foothold collectively in an industry. At previous said company I was at the company froze pay scales in 2008 citing the recession. Everyone on board as wanted to keep jobs, The pay carried on to be frozen into 2012. It then came to light pay rises had been awarded at the top echelons. Some senior managers 7 percent. The union went to town on them and it got pretty heated. It was became very close to work to rule. The union managed to get back the missing years back pay for us in large chunks (very welcome at Christmas!) including back pay on holiday pay including missing increments. A new salary rise was also faught to bring into line with industry standards. Funnily enough the non union members lapped up the extra money but still moaned a lot.
They were not perfect but it was better than nowt. Thanks to the union we had a scheduling agreement that was far more protective than the standard legislation on working hours and included everything from details on pay away from home base to the earliest time they could start you after a holiday break. When not driving I now work in the same field as before for a non UK unionised company and it’s, er fair game at shooting season as far as the company see it to put it politely.
Juddian wrote:
But the ones who really get my goat are those work for good companies with proper union recognition, they won’t join the union yet have no trouble trousering the pay rise they’ve had every single year negotiated by the stewards and correctly voted on by the dues paying members…and in keeping up half wit lorry driver tradition, moan about it too.
They don’t want to join, but think but think they can still have a say on everything, 
TGWU if theyre still around, but others have been mentioned, the only good they will do is aid you for company indecisions/tribunals etc, the rest forget about,in a lot of cases there will be only you in the depot who is unionised, so how are you gonna fight the management, strike, protest, of course not, if drivers were to stick together, and join of form a real union, run by drivers for drivers, then we would have some clout, but it aint never going to happen, so just slog on.
Hiya i worked at one firm(fully paid up member and paid into a extra fund for offences) never had any
parking while unloading fines payed…one reason the lady who pays out the monies was on holiday■■?.
(i still payed my dues while i was on holiday) final straw we got taken over by twope, we asked to
be paid off as two of us was 20 year men and the other was 33 years. the union said we don’t get involved
with redundancy problems…WHAT!!! thanks Mold TGWU…save your money…drivers will never stick together
because the terms are different… you’ll never get a OD to park up he can’t afford to.
John
the maoster:
Juddian:
But the ones who really get my goat are those work for good companies with proper union recognition, they won’t join the union yet have no trouble trousering the pay rise they’ve had every single year negotiated by the stewards and correctly voted on by the dues paying members…and in keeping up half wit lorry driver tradition, moan about it too.Used to boil my ■■■■ when I and about 8 others from a 150 strong unionised workforce could be bothered to drag our sorry arses out of bed on a Sunday morning to attend a union meeting where we were voting on the latest pay deal. We would get ALL members an x% pay rise which they’d happily take whilst still ■■■■■■■■ that it wasn’t enough!
I campaigned unsuccessfully for a long time for the rise to only apply to those who either attended the meetings, had a ■■■■ good excuse why they didn’t or actually were union members.
then theres the ones who will get get verbal and aggressive "get in there and tell the {zb} we want a effin rise or else " asked what the or else is and are you prepared to go out the door without wages for any length of time ■■ they storm off telling every one they meet what a useless bunch of tossers the stewards are . as has been said the union is only as good as its members , and the stewards are only the messengers .they have no power at all , in fact if they are not careful about what they say they are open to prosecution .
If anyone is going to look for a union that influences govt policy then be prepared to be disappointed
If anyone wants a union to represent them individually then there are a few to choose from
I found URTU to be very good at dealing with individual issues
Stay away from Unite, nasty, self serving and useless.
manic-merc:
Stay away from Unite, nasty, self serving and useless.
On the other hand, the three highest paid jobs of my lorry years were/are UNITE/TGWU represented, including the present one which is about the best job i’ve ever had.
The most important decision you will ever make is who you choose as shop steward, strong enough to face the various tactics of some managements varying from outright bullying to dangled carrots, strong enough to face down the idiots (often enough not members but more wind and ■■■■ than enough) who demand stupid terms only likely to put you all on the dole, and able to keep discipline NCO style with ■■■■ taking sick note spongers and shirkers no use to man nor beast.
I have worked at one company where shop stewards were so much in the managements pocket it was unbelievable, still trading, still a horrible place for drivers, luckily they get their fair share of idiots so lots of damage brings karma.
Olog Hai:
fredthered:
Can anyone give an example of a union (any union) that has actually improved the lot of your average ‘professional’ driver?I can only recall erosion of the T&C’s that were hard won over time in the past and the use of subs to support corrupt political parties and union bosses?
I can still be persuaded otherwise but I’m not holding my breath.
Quite easy that: your average train driver and his £45k for a 37-hour week. They are professional drivers, the difference between them and HGV pilots being they stick together and do what they say they will, rather than just talking a good game.
The working week is 35 hours for most if not all train drivers and that includes all breaks. The 45k figure is somewhat toward the lower end of the pay scale. Intercity train drivers are pushing 55k+ for a 4 day week.
rob22888:
D’ya not?:
Plus they have strong bargaining tools, the general public and the public ■■■■■, it would never work at Bobs trucking (other trucking firms are available).^This.
This thing about train drivers ‘sticking together’ and reaping the rewards crops up here all the time. It’s a totally different ball game.
If London Underground drivers walk out it brings a whole city to it’s knees. That’s just one group of drivers working for the same company. Same levels of disruption can be caused if just Virgin drivers walked out, or Arriva drivers, or First drivers. Thats not exactly train drivers ‘sticking together’ is it, just looking after themselves and exercising their ability as a single workforce to cause widespread chaos at the drop of a hat.
I can’t actually remember the last time a train company’s driver went on strike apart from on the London Underground. Anyway surely if all stagecoach or all Arriva bus drivers in London went on strike for the day it would have the same effect?
Had a letter through yesterday saying that my GMB membership has expired as I payed it out of my wages at my previous job. Should I stick with them or join a union that is more industry specific? If so which is best?
Not interested in comments about unions being a waste of money etc, for the price of a pint a week I like the little bit of security of knowing I’ve got legal services there if I may ever need them. Ta.
Tris:
Had a letter through yesterday saying that my GMB membership has expired as I payed it out of my wages at my previous job. Should I stick with them or join a union that is more industry specific? If so which is best?Not interested in comments about unions being a waste of money etc, for the price of a pint a week I like the little bit of security of knowing I’ve got legal services there if I may ever need them. Ta.
Unite the union
unitetheunion.org/join-unite/
Urtu
urtu.com/uploads/URTU%20Appl … 0Debit.pdf
Gmb
gmb.org.uk/join/join-online
I’m biased as I’m a Unite shop steward, but your quite correct for a few pence per hour it gives you job insurance if your company starts to play silly buggers with your T&cs etc.
codge123:
Tris:
Had a letter through yesterday saying that my GMB membership has expired as I payed it out of my wages at my previous job. Should I stick with them or join a union that is more industry specific? If so which is best?Not interested in comments about unions being a waste of money etc, for the price of a pint a week I like the little bit of security of knowing I’ve got legal services there if I may ever need them. Ta.
Unite the union
unitetheunion.org/join-unite/Urtu
urtu.com/uploads/URTU%20Appl … 0Debit.pdfGmb
gmb.org.uk/join/join-onlineI’m biased as I’m a Unite shop steward, but your quite correct for a few pence per hour it gives you job insurance if your company starts to play silly buggers with your T&cs etc.
Ok, just googled and seen some Hgv drivers are in the GMB, so purely from the point of view of it being less hassle I will probably stick with them. Plus urtu costs more.
Personally, I would go with a different union.
unite or acas
bonnie lass:
Personally, I would go with a different union.unite or acas
Think you’ll find acas is not a union but a conciliation service
Didn’t think Acas class themselves as a Union Bonnie lass, its a independent and impartial Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service for employees, A Union carries more weight with an employer
Makes me laugh discussions about unions,they didn’t spring up because somebody thought it was a good idea it was to overcome archaic and unsafe working practices foisted on the many by the privileged few who would still have us doffing our caps as we walked in if they could get away with it.
Members do make the union and unfortunately due to apathy by the majority of members you could find a union being controlled nationally by the same few members attending branch meetings and gaining influence nationally because nobody could be bothered to attend meetings and counter the militant point of view.
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bonnie lass:
Personally, I would go with a different union.unite or acas
Think youll find athough not a union but conciliation service
[/quote]
You’d be right, I don’t have much knowledge of this type of stuff , but I would have to say they would be probably better than gmb. I was with gmb In the not too distant past for a few years, not impressed.
Swampey2418:
Didn’t think Acas class themselves as a Union Bonnie lass, its a independent and impartial Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service for employees, A Union carries more weight with an employer
You’d be right too , my terminology of indentifying which is what , is not that good sorry, they would surely be able to offer sound advice though.
