Union reps — Page 2

Carl Roper
Investment banker attacks workplace volunteers

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Jesse Norman MP. Cartoon © Alex Hughes

If I was to tell you that today, a former employee of an industry that in 2009 received a bailout from the taxpayer amounting to over £1 TRILLION (and that still owes over £450 BILLION) was to move a motion attacking volunteer workplace union reps and demanding that unions should be forced to repay employers for the time they have negotiated that allows workplace reps to represent employees and negotiate with employers, you would think I’d taken leave of my senses.

But that’s exactly what is going to happen today when Jesse Norman MP, a former Barclays Investment banker stands up and moves a 10 Minute Rule Bill in the House of Commons.

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Posted on January 11th, 2012 by Carl Roper filed under: Union reps
Richard Exell
Pay bargaining and injustice

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On 21 February the TUC will be holding its annual Pay Bargaining Forum with Incomes Data Services. (More details, or register) It’s about equipping union representatives with facts and arguments that will be useful in the 2012 pay negotiations; this is the bread and butter of trades unionism, but we’re consciously putting that in the context of unions’ long-term struggle for a fairer world.

So in addition to a practical “Pay Negotiators’ Tool Box” we’ll also be looking at how to challenge the fragmentation of bargaining and taking on some of the myths that are being promoted by our opponents. A good example of this sort of thing is the Chancellor’s claim in his Autumn Statement that:

“public sector pay has risen at twice the rate of private sector pay over the last four years.”

In a brilliant recent post, Alastair Hatchett of IDS (who’ll be one of the speakers at the conference) took this claim apart.

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Posted on December 19th, 2011 by Richard Exell filed under: Union reps
Carl Roper
Tories admit union cash doesn’t influence Labour (well kind of)!

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One of the more spurious yet central reasons why right wing front groups hate union reps getting paid time to represent employees and negotiate with employers is because they’ve convinced themselves that this frees up cash that unions (or at least the minority of them that affiliate) can then give to the Labour party. And a union trying to influence public policy is the thing they hate the most – apart from unions themselves obviously!

But wait – what’s this? It seems that unions aren’t the only groups that give cash to political parties.

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Posted on December 9th, 2011 by Carl Roper filed under: Union reps
Paul Nowak
The TPA ‘cost-cost’ analysis of unions

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Some things in life are inevitable – death, taxes, change, the seasons. But perhaps nothing is quite as inevitable as the fact that a report from the so-called Tax Payers Alliance will be about as balanced as a two-wheel trike.

Their latest opus sets out what it calls a ‘scandalous subsidy for unions’ conflating facilities and facility time for union reps in the public sector, with other types of support such as that provided through the Union Learning Fund – an initiative that has won widespread support from employers and Ministers alike.

Leaving aside the usual mistakes and/or deliberate omissions (the NFU is a ‘union’ apparently though I can confirm they have not indicated their official support for the TUC’s Day of action on November 30, and there is no mention of the fact that in some cases unions make payments toward the costs of facilities and time-off arrangements) the report’s major flaw is that it purports to highlight the COSTS (allegedly £113m) of such support, but studiously avoids any mention of any BENEFITS that may accrue from such support.

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Posted on November 25th, 2011 by Paul Nowak filed under: Union reps
Carl Roper
Introducing unionreps ACTION!

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The TUC is pleased to announce the launch of a new set of on-line resources for union reps to help them organise, campaign and build stronger unions – unionreps ACTION!

We believe that these are the most comprehensive set of on-line resources of their kind available to reps in the UK. They include everything needed to build the union and campaign to win.

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Posted on November 21st, 2011 by Carl Roper filed under: Union reps
Carl Roper
Tory attack on union reps is based on ideology not the facts

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The Facts About Facility Time for Union Reps OCTOBER 2011

What started as murmurings of discontent amongst right-wing Tory backbench MPs and in the offices of the so-called Tax Payers’ Alliance has now been given the full throated support of the Government. Yes, despite the world standing on the edge of an economic disaster that would apparently make us yearn for the Autumn of 2008, war has been declared, but not on the banks who caused the original crash and who are stalling the recovery but on union reps who get paid time off to represent their colleagues.

In a move dressed up as an effort to save taxpayers money (isn’t it always) but that in reality is nothing more than a bone thrown to far right Tory MPs, Eric Pickles and Francis Maude yesterday used the Tory party conference to attack paid release for union reps.

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Posted on October 4th, 2011 by Carl Roper filed under: Union reps
John Wood
WERS 2011 survey coming soon

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The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) are now organising a new round of Britain’s largest employment relations study, WERS (the Workplace Employment Relations Study). Look out for it if it comes to your workplace – It’s your chance to help shape what decision makers use to inform their judgements about the world of work.

WERS examines 3,000 employers in detail, to gauge and explore the current employment relations climate by giving a picture of working life in Britain. The 2011 study will be the sixth since it begain in 1980.

WERS is particularly good in that it gives a rounded picture of workplaces. Interview are held not just with managers, but also employees and union reps. This means it’s an important resource for unions and policy makers. In particular it helps us nail many of the myths about union organisation and unions’ impact on workplaces. And internally, it also allows us to track our strengths and weaknesses.

Government respect it too, and its evidence has helped us succesfully argue for progressive policies on work-life balance, equal opportunities and dispute resolution.

A select group of workplaces will be contacted from October and the study will begin in January 2011. The TUC is a strong supporter of WERS and we’d encourage unions and union reps to fully participate if you are in one of the workplaces chosen.

If you would like to know more about the study visit the website: www.wers2011.org.uk

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Posted on November 25th, 2010 by John Wood filed under: Union reps