I think it fair to say that the Unions can be thanked for todays 1100+ job losses!

B

billko

Guest
I think it fair to say that the Unions can be thanked for todays 1100+ job losses ! They have made this country seriously uncompetitive with their policies in many large companys and are directly responsible in many cases for 1000's of job losses over the last decade. Getting a little tired of it to be honest.
 
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Maybe you would prefer life without representation where most of us would be earning little more than the minimum wage.
 
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Spare me the BS.. People had a choice up until last year to move if they were not being treated fairly.. they shouldn't need someone to hold their hand. No business can withstand inefficiency and sooner or later will pay the price. There needs to be flexibility in the workplace and that never happens when unions are involved.
 
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The days of the former Team Aer lingus staff being heavily subsidised are gone thankfully. So what we are left with are aircraft mechanics/engineers on massively inflated earnings in Ireland which now finds itself redundant in a cut-throat business.
Aer Lingus will be next I'd imagine as the unions will no doubt drag that entity down too.
 
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It is simplistic to blame Unions for current job losses. I would image most of the multinational companies relocating to cheaper economies are not unionised. We were delighted when these companies located in Ireland some years ago. They came here because there was a young, educated, cheap workforce. They are now locating to different countries which can provide them with just that.
 
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Funny the way most of the people who lost thier jobs to multinationals werent in unions...they've only got themselves to blame when the foreign firms up sticks and go somewhere cheaper.
If it wasnt for unions working conditions,taxation and wages would all be far worse for the employees.
 
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olddoll said:
It is simplistic to blame Unions for current job losses. I would image most of the multinational companies relocating to cheaper economies are not unionised. We were delighted when these companies located in Ireland some years ago. They came here because there was a young, educated, cheap workforce. They are now locating to different countries which can provide them with just that.
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Speaking of Multinationals - If unions had been involved in DELL it would have been closed years ago. The reason it stayed open so long was because the workers were flexible and productive. We are not going to be able to compete on a manufacturing basis in the future because of cheap labour abroad but in a case like this, providing a fast and efficient service would have saved them - but when unions are in the way - that will never happen !
 
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Wexfordguy said:
Funny the way most of the people who lost thier jobs to multinationals werent in unions...they've only got themselves to blame when the foreign firms up sticks and go somewhere cheaper.
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Very interesting take on private sector employment :rolleyes:!! We cant all work in the public sector you know! We all cant be insulated against asymmetric economic shocks.

Unions also represent private sector workers you know!
 
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billko said:
Speaking of Multinationals - If unions had been involved in DELL it would have been closed years ago. The reason it stayed open so long was because the workers were flexible and productive. We are not going to be able to compete on a manufacturing basis in the future because of cheap labour abroad but in a case like this, providing a fast and efficient service would have saved them - but when unions are in the way - that will never happen !
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And what use did it do them in the long run?

The unions werent there and they still closed.

To my mind you're talking a load of rubbish my friend..
 
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LennyBriscoe said:
Very interesting take on private sector employment :rolleyes:!! We cant all work in the public sector you know! We all cant be insulated

Unions also represent private sector workers you know!
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Ah but we're NOT insulated.
The media and the government have vilified the Public sector to the extent that they're taking hit on the pensions levy by themselves and the private sector are sitting around going "ha,that'll teach you!"

When the times were good,we couldnt get anybody to take a job in my place,they all wanted the 40 grand that the they thought the private sector was offering.
I used to have people asking me how much i earned than sneering,saying "thats aload of crap..get another job".
Now we're earning slightly more than we were then and people want us to shoulder the economic burden because we have the cheek t o pay into a pension fund!!
 
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Personal soapbox!!! My other half works in a company which is strongly unionised-theor latest plan-in their infinite wisdom-is to vote on strike action for a 10% pay INCREASE!!!!!!!! They have only just received their towards 2013-which none of the rest of us are likely to get! They are also taking great exception to some very minor changes to their working conditions. No understanding apparently that they are lucky to have jobs in the current climate! I work for a charity (considered as a public servant) but was never a union member at all, we're probably covered by the pension levy and subject to funding every year so I fully appreciate how tight things are, really can't get my head around how you could justify going on strike for more pay at the moment!
 
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LennyBriscoe said:
Very interesting take on private sector employment :rolleyes:!! We cant all work in the public sector you know! We all cant be insulated against asymmetric econiomic shocks.

Unions also represent private sector workers you know!
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For your information I work in the private sector and am not in a union. The chances are I will be out of work before the end of this year but thats down to global factors ( lack of demand for the product). There is still a need for servicing aeroplanes so they should have been pretty well insulated from the global suitation.
 
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There is and has been value in unions, but at the moment they are acting irresponsibly in not accepting that a cut in public sector pay, in any form. Jack O'connor was on the other day about right wing agendas and the media having workers at each others throats. Its the unions that are deviding the workers. Jobs are being lost in unionised companies and pay has been cut and pensions wiped out. Yet the same unions are outraged when there's a cut in public sector pay. How can a union official not accept any public sector pay cut when unionized private sector jobs are being lost in the 000's each week. Whats unfair about a cut in a garaunteed job? Can someone ask jack, why arent pubic sector jobs been benchmarked now? And someone please slap him if he says public sector workers didnt cause this...well jack either the 36000 last month.
 
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Despite my earlier rant I really believe that there is a bit of divide and conquer going on at the moment. Every average Jo soap is affected by the current situation, and it's none of our individual faults. However, instead of being united in our protest against the way we are being screwed over, now public and private sector workers are at each other's throats. All of our children for example, suffer equally when there are ed cuts....
 
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Wexfordguy said:
And what use did it do them in the long run?

The unions werent there and they still closed.

To my mind you're talking a load of rubbish my friend..
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Either way it would have closed and so will the majority of manufacturing companies in this country over the next five years - that's business - we cannot compete with wages in the eastern europe at the moment and definitely not Asia. The point is service industries are more specialised in many cases and take years to build up an experienced workforce. It's harder for that to be transferred abroad. They are exactly the jobs we should be looking after.
 
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Maybe you would prefer life without representation where most of us would be earning little more than the minimum wage.
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Well I'm not represented by any union, and am earning little more than minimum wage.
I would be delighted if the unions disbanded. They've made a terrible job of running the country.
 
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Grumpybut... said:
now public and private sector workers are at each other's throats. ....
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This is being fueled by the unions by making out the public sector are being attacked. Instead if they came out and said that the pain has to be shared and that pay levels are too high (which they are in these times) their members would probably accept that, private sector would commend them. Their role then would be to make the CUT fair and equitable.
 
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Docking-I completel accept that the pain needs to be shared but in the area in which I work, none of us are lighting cigars with 100e notes! We work on the coalface with a difficult client group for which no money would pay us! It's just very frustrating that we get tarred with the same brush as highly paid, high level administrators.
 
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