Anyone care to tell us some of the silly union claims in their jobs?

T

thedaras

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Ill start;
The job I was in was held-up by guys with shotguns.
They held up the guy who went to collect the cash for the wages.It was horrific for all involved.

The company suggested that the staff be paid directly into their bank account,or by cheque..perfectly reasonable..you would think..

The union got involved and claimed that a lot of the staff didnt have bank accounts...the unions won .

The union also wanted time off for staff to cash the cheque..the unions won ..

The union then got the staff a once off payment for the disruption!
The company has closed down!!
GO FIGURE
 
Not in my job but two examples:

- Demanding a pay rise for construction workers

- Friend told me about a guy who was usually first in to the office in the morning so he'd turn on the lights and open the blinds as you would. My mate came in one morning to find the bloke sitting in the dark after his union rep told him its not his job to turn on the lights and open the blinds
 
woodseb said:
- Friend told me about a guy who was usually first in to the office in the morning so he'd turn on the lights and open the blinds as you would. My mate came in one morning to find the bloke sitting in the dark after his union rep told him its not his job to turn on the lights and open the blinds
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Oh my dear God. I turn on the lights in the morning.. I really must stop doing that and work blind in future... How ridiculous haha
 
woodseb said:
My mate came in one morning to find the bloke sitting in the dark after his union rep told him its not his job to turn on the lights and open the blinds
Click to expand...
no union can make someone sit in the dark like a right gobs...
did he get paid for the time he was "in the dark"
unions are one thing but employees can be really loving the "them and us" of it all too and can add far more to it.
 
Some I've come across over the years (some gotten from friends/family):

1. Union looks for higher pay for introduction of new technology that makes the job easier to do.

2. Disturbance payments sought for moving from a cramped old building to a spacious new building with all mod cons across the street.

3. Overworked, but dont want new staff hired as it increases the competition for promotion. When new staff hired, refused to train them, so trainers had to be brought in from another branch of the company abroad at great expense to the company. [In this particular case, a legislation change required everyone in this job to do a further training course. The older employees in the union refused to cooperate suggesting that the company should get an exemption from the law (impossible). Ended up with these older employees having to be let go becuase they didnt have the required legal qualifications for the job.]

4. Want travel and subsistence expenses greater than what is allowed by Revenue Commissioners, but threaten to go on strike when the company says that tax advice is that they would have to tax anything above the Revenue Commissioners level. In this case, the company was willing to give a pay rise. Essentially the union wanted more money, but didnt want to pay tax.
 
Haha they are all soo funny:)
Another one Ive heard (not me ),,For someone to walk from one area of work to another.(a 100 foot walk)Union wanted, RAIN JACKETS,UNBRELLAS AND ..wait for it....
SNOW BOOTS...
and they got them too:confused:,which they never used!!
 
I'm reading these posts with interest and have to say that my experience is different. I think that people forget that unions are made up of members and it's up to the members to stand up for what is right and fair. So if the 'union' is talking rubbish, the people in the workplace whose work could be affected by daft decisions, have the right to ignore the advise and challenge the decisions.
On one occasion where I work, we were given bad advise that would have, if followed, resulted in job losses. We told the union what help we needed, we got it,we refused to follow their advise and told them that their job was to protect our employment. They are employed by us. They followed our advise. In other dealings , because they have professional knowledge, they have helped immensely both at local and regional level.
However, it's up to people to think for themselves. Many of us in the past were very glad of unions, we got sunday pay, proper holidays, and we didn't feel alone if there was trouble. However like any large organisations, they can become institutionalised and lose sight of their mandate. What's needed by all is flexability.
 
Brianne, agree with most of what you say, however they are called union LEADERS..
ANd IMO the above problems stem from where people are being LED..the leaders need to lead ..
 
Brianne said:
Many of us in the past were very glad of unions, we got sunday pay, proper holidays, and we didn't feel alone if there was trouble. However like any large organisations, they can become institutionalised and lose sight of their mandate. What's needed by all is flexability.
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Sunday pay, now there’s an interesting one. I was talking to my neighbour who runs a small shop. She pointed out that if she get a school kid to work for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon doing unskilled work tidying up the shop after the day she has to pay them over €17 an hour. That’s just crazy.

Does flexibility extend to the realisation that we are more expensive than Switzerland for servicing aircraft and Dublin is more expensive than Manhattan to run a shop in?
 
And than again sometimes unions do something like this:

Union makes pay deal with M&S

Mandate has said it's reached an agreement with Marks and Spencers for a new pay deal above and beyond the terms of the National Wage Agreement.
The deal allows for wage increases of up to 6.7 per cent above current rates.
The trade union said the deal is what is expected from profitable companies even in difficult trading circumstances.
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Not bad in these times 6.7% as long as M&S can do this without raising their prices I'm all for it because it means more money to the tax man and more spending power for the employees.

I just hope that M&S is not raising the prices by 6.7% now.
 
Purple said:
... or just pull out of the country.
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Id imagine you are right purple

That shows the great LEADERSHIP,negoiating a pay rise in this climate!!:confused:

I can just see the staff of M&S,doing a waterford on the company,when it closes! where is the reponsible leadership? maybe thats another thread..
Its a short term gain,but could end up detrimental to the staff at the end of the day..
 
thedaras said:
Id imagine you are right purple

That shows the great LEADERSHIP,negoiating a pay rise in this climate!!:confused:

I can just see the staff of M&S,doing a waterford on the company,when it closes! where is the reponsible leadership? maybe thats another thread..
Its a short term gain,but could end up detrimental to the staff at the end of the day..
Click to expand...

Since when have unions looked at what is sustainable? They epitomise the short term greed of the Celtic tiger.
 
I heard of someone demanding trauma compensation because someone accross the road coughed.

(Actually I made that one up)
 
woodseb said:
- Friend told me about a guy who was usually first in to the office in the morning so he'd turn on the lights and open the blinds as you would. My mate came in one morning to find the bloke sitting in the dark after his union rep told him its not his job to turn on the lights and open the blinds
Click to expand...

My favorite so far.

An old boss of mine in HR got a letter from the unions asking for disturbance money due to the fact that staff were being ask to use a different door.

She counted the number of steps from the middle of the car park and found it took her 5 less steps to get into the building. She wrote back to the union offical explaining and nheard no more about it.
 
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