Urban75 Home About Offline BrixtonBuzz Contact

Recruiting Union Members

KeyboardJockey said:
No I'm not Mortlake or anyone like him / her. There is a point in selling a union as a form of insurance especially when people have now got so divorced from the idea of collectivism.
Click to expand...

No there isn't. Trade unions cannot provide this service without charging a hell of a lot more than they do to join.

When you join a trade union, you join a collective, where a hell of a lot of the work done for members is done by volunteers who are not paid by the union.
 
Hocus Eye. said:
KJ

If you think that solidarity is nebulous then you haven't a clue about what unions are about. They are not a kind of insurance company and members aren't customers buying services. Some unions have started in this direction though, but that is coming from the salaried bureaucrats at the top who are concerned about their own jobs.
Click to expand...

I understand the concept of solidarity but many people see it as something that belongs to the past. If we are to move foreward and get people more active then this has to be acknowledged. Approaching people with the idea of selling a service is one way of getting people more involved.
Hocus Eye. said:
Unions are representative organisations and are as strong as the collective members acting together. This is true nationally and also at local level.
Click to expand...

I agree with that but its not like that in practice.
Hocus Eye. said:
You have just left your old union at a time when it is involved in fighting back along with other public sector trade unions. Had you stayed to take part in the future strike action you might have developed a shared sense of purpose with the other workers - solidarity.
Click to expand...

I tried that it didn't work.
Hocus Eye. said:
I have been a union rep and found it difficult to get people to meetings after work, but they would come to very brief meetings at lunchtime if there was a current workplace issue causing concern. Only have meetings that have a purpose.
Click to expand...

Good points there. There is so much pressure for people to have short lunch breaks and so many other things that people need to do in them that a brief meeting might be the way forward if its on a specific issue.
Hocus Eye. said:
Social activities can come after you have a members list perhaps at Christmas. A rep is not a social secretary. You will have enough on your plate with your case load once you are established - don't forget you don't get paid.
Click to expand...

I can't think of any way to sell the idea of a trade union to a bunch of demoralised people than the social / insurance route.
 
lollipops and other things to suck on? free stress relief toys? (get back to the roots of trade unionism like)
 
KeyboardJockey said:
I understand the concept of solidarity but many people see it as something that belongs to the past. If we are to move foreward and get people more active then this has to be acknowledged. Approaching people with the idea of selling a service is one way of getting people more involved.
Click to expand...

This really is not good enough. If people see things that way then they are misinformed. The have been misinformed by the representatives of the bosses. That is to say the media and most politicians giving a constant drip of propaganda intended to undermine the union movement.

If you want the union to be effective you must educate the misinformed members.

And I have remembered something having read Guineveretwo's voice of experience. The GMB is debarred from recruiting from another union while that union is involved in industrial action, by something called the Bridlington Agreement.

There would be no cover that an unrecognised trade union can give members apart from last resort legal support at a tribunal. - if the union chose to do so. There would be no point in being a rep because you or anyone else will not be permitted to represent their views to management. You would be able to act as a 'friend' and be in attendance at a redundancy appeal but this would be little more than a token. The PCS members would get a better deal in this circumstance.
 
Hocus Eye. said:
This really is not good enough. If people see things that way then they are misinformed. The have been misinformed by the representatives of the bosses. That is to say the media and most politicians giving a constant drip of propaganda intended to undermine the union movement.

If you want the union to be effective you must educate the misinformed members.

And I have remembered something having read Guineveretwo's voice of experience. The GMB is debarred from recruiting from another union while that union is involved in industrial action, by something called the Bridlington Agreement.

There would be no cover that an unrecognised trade union can give members apart from last resort legal support at a tribunal. - if the union chose to do so. There would be no point in being a rep because you or anyone else will not be permitted to represent their views to management. You would be able to act as a 'friend' and be in attendance at a redundancy appeal but this would be little more than a token. The PCS members would get a better deal in this circumstance.
Click to expand...


The Bridlington Agreement had nothing to do with industrial action - it was simply an agreement not to poach each other's members. It has now been superseded, although we often still refer to it as if it exists, by TUC rules which do not allow an unrecognised union to recruit in a workplace covered by another trade union.

GMB know this, and will not be helping keyboardjockey to recruit in his workplace. Expect a thread in a couple of weeks about how crap they are, because they are in the pocket of management, and will not help him to organise social events of possible members in a workplace where members of another union are fighting for their very jobs in the face of apathy and anti trade union activism from the workforce. Of course, he won't mention the last bit, just the bit about how crap trade unions are because he phoned them to ask them to help him organise concert tickets, and they didn't phone him back, or phoned him back and said no.

Incidentally, KBJ, I am a member of the GMB, and know the London regional organisers pretty well. I promise you, they will not breach the TUC agreement and try and recruit in your workplace.
 
Guineveretoo said:
Sorry, I don't understand what it means when someone types "classic" in response to a sentence quoted from a post. :confused:
Click to expand...

"classic" equals "very funny" and "amusing" (in my yokel speak... )





sorry, nowt serious intended.... i just found it amusing watching KJ wiggle
 
KeyboardJockey said:
I’m quite excited about this.
Click to expand...

can't be arsed to go through all the replies to this drivel, I';m sure some of what I say will have been said already, but....


What you are talking about is being excited about backing up management and recruiting to a union which cannot take strike action. Youy are excited about setting up a nice club - not a union - that offers cheap insurance, the odd get together, and maybe some personal representation in case of you falling out with your management chums.

It's already been pointed out in detail that no one will help you recruit to this de facto scab union, and the GMB won't have any interest in doing so, or in backnig you up if (and hopefully when) you get shit for trying to do so yourself.

but, as a former rep, you actually know all this, and this thread is mere bravado to try and fool...who? Us? Yourself? Whichever way, you are merely trying to fool someone that what you are doing is not shitting on your colleagues, even tho that is exaclty what it is.
 
Guineveretoo

Thanks for the clarification of my misremembered info, and apologies for spelling your name wrongly.
 
KBJ you said "I understand the concept of solidarity but many people see it as something that belongs to the past."

Many people dont. Many people understand if explained properly the need to unite to achieve an aim. Even your workplace, if the question is posed in the correct manner.

Guineverretoo. The reason why I posted the link to the organising model was for KBJ to comment on this organising method. While I think he is on a hiding to nothing in his workplace I believe that the method demonstrated in this link should make KBJ realise that its not a simple question attracting workers to a union by advertising insurance and discounted holidays. My view is that when KBJ views and digests the link he will conclude that the workers in his workplace wont buy it, thus further confirming to us that his role in this thread is as a meaningless troll making a patheitic attempt to wind genuine trade unionists up.
 
nightbreed said:
KBJ you said "I understand the concept of solidarity but many people see it as something that belongs to the past."

Many people dont. Many people understand if explained properly the need to unite to achieve an aim. Even your workplace, if the question is posed in the correct manner.
Click to expand...
I wish someone would tell me what these magic words are - because in my experience NOTHING you can say or do works (I've been trying for nigh-on twenty years). There's no rational argument that gets through to people who are impervious to reasoned, proven facts.
 
poster342002 said:
I wish someone would tell me what these magic words are - because in my experience NOTHING you can say or do works (I've been trying for nigh-on twenty years). There's no rational argument that gets through to people who are impervious to reasoned, proven facts.
Click to expand...

You are a lost cause so its not really worth anything you debating the issue. My advice is for you to resign and get a job elsewhere.

But for what its worth there are always issues in a workplace to campaign around. To achieve any gains you have to act collectively. If there is no mood at this stage you wait until there is. Believe me , with the recession approaching there will be. Unfortunately if an issue did come up , you and KBJ are the type of people to fuck it up.

If you want to see the problem that is in many organised workplaces, look in the mirror. Genuine trade unionist, which you arent will overcome any barriers and not whinge.
 
When I was a branch organiser at my old work place we had lots of young people in the work place. I sold union membership as having lots of development opportunities and doubled the size of the branch exec. At one stage about half of the 15 or so of us on the exec were under 28.

Sell the skills they'll learn and the paid courses and training that the union will pay for them and see if that works. (Also the young members stuff that unions organise too.)
 
Unfortunately, the troll who started this thread can't actually do any of that, since the union he claims to want to recruit to is not recognised in his department, so will not be offering any of those advantages.

But it was good general advice, nonetheless - others could take heed. :)
 
Oh,

didn't realise it was a
225px-DoNotFeedTroll.svg.png
thread.
 
Prince Rhyus said:
When I was a branch organiser at my old work place we had lots of young people in the work place. I sold union membership as having lots of development opportunities and doubled the size of the branch exec. At one stage about half of the 15 or so of us on the exec were under 28.

Sell the skills they'll learn and the paid courses and training that the union will pay for them and see if that works. (Also the young members stuff that unions organise too.)
Click to expand...

Hmmmm - doesn't sound like a brilliant way for people to come across Trade Union activity...
 
Hey at least I'm trying to do something. It is a scandalous state of affairs when the recognised union is losing members hand over fist like it is.

Better to be a member of any union than none.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

two sheds
Unite the union accusations from Graham report with response by McCluskey
Replies
9
Views
426
Smokeandsteam
Smokeandsteam
PR1Berske
Private Members Bills
2
Replies
41
Views
6K
Smokeandsteam
Smokeandsteam
Pickman's model
Members of Britain's richest family get prison sentences
Replies
12
Views
992
stavros
S
Pathfinder
American Tactical Nukes (Overtly) returning to UK mainland
Replies
3
Views
229
JoeyBoy
J
ska invita
A new united right in Britain.
2 3 4
Replies
117
Views
4K
ska invita
ska invita
Back
Top Bottom