On Tuesday, September 18, 2007 4:53 PM [GMT+1=CET], Adrian Stott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> "Mike Stevens" > <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> On Tuesday, September 18, 2007 8:53 AM [GMT+1=CET], >> Dorothy Robbie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> Most of my working life was spent in companies where there was no >>> trade union presence, so the employers had more scope for running >>> their companies the way they wanted. In my last job (where I spent >>> nearly 22 years, so no complaints about it), if anyone was off sick >>> for more than a couple of weeks and the bosses realised that the >>> firm could manage without them, there was a fair possibility that >>> that job would become redundant! >> >> Yet another illustration of the need for Trade Unions. > > Mike, you seem to saying that Trade Unions are a good thing because > they can force employers to keep redundant staff/positions. Is that > really what you mean? I'm saying that Trade Unions can, with a lot of work and a bit of luck, defend their members against bogus "redundancies", which some employers are too fond of. In my years as a TU officer and later employee, I did a lot of redundancy work, and in a genuine redundancy situation was always happy to work with the employer to sort out a set of selection criteria for redundancy that were legally fair, while at the same time negotiating the best possible terms I could for those employees who did become redundant. Mike Stevens narrowboat Felis Catus III web-site www.mike-stevens.co.uk No man is an island. So is Man.
