Crocodile Slattern
KirstyPals, join a union. Do it now. Not when things kick off. There are rules against asking for help from Union Officers if the situation you’re in is active when you sign up. Don’t be the person that finds that out the hard way.
GinevraCat@pampelmousse Cannot agree with this hard enough.
kauer@pampelmousse Seems like a weird rule. "You are allowed to join Uunion at any time except whhen you need one". Makes me think you must be in the USA.
Sin Vega@kauer @pampelmousse seriously. those are the people you want joining most. Otherwise you're turning "I went to the union and they were great. You should join too" into "I went to the union and they told me to fuck off because they don't want anyone who needs help. Don't waste your time"
@kauer @pampelmousse also that's how you find out that lots of other people in the same org/industry are quietly having the same problem, instead of turning them all away alone
Tris 👭🗺️🍞🔔@sinvega @kauer @pampelmousse have any of y'all hit this in practice? I am a union steward in the US (IFPTE) and we don't have such rules. the law requires us to represent everyone in our bargaining unit, even those who choose not to join the union. we can't do that effectively without dues funding the staff/structures we rely on, so join your union! but I'd love to hear more about where this comes from, because it does not match my experience, and I'd love to advocate for fixing it if I can
That's kind of the point, yeah. If you make it an exclusive club it's not collective bargaining, it's divisive.
I'm in the UK so may not be much use in practice, but I've joined a union right when I needed help before, and even got advice from a rep (who I didn't personally know; this wasn't just friendly advice) who knew I wasn't a member
@tris I don't remember the details, but another I was in would have been able to help less if I wasn't a member. I *think* it was that he wouldn't have been able to personally represent me in meetings etc (which, fair enough, although in the end I didn't want that), but could still advise. It's pretty basic outreach tbh
@tris @sinvega @pampelmousse lol, the one country I thought would have such rules, doesn't! I take it back, maintain the opposite, and apologise to US unions :-)
Dave@kauer @pampelmousse at least in Germany you can always join a Union but the lawyer fee insurance only kicks in a few months after signing up, otherwise everyone would only sign up in dire need and there'd be no money for the other union stuff.
PassengerAs a union organiser, I totally get this. A person who joins a union only when they need help is also, usually, a person who will leave the union immediately after they need help. That's a person who has no sense of solidarity and is only ever going to be a drain on a union.
Tim Ward ⭐🇪🇺🔶 #FBPE@pampelmousse In the UK specifically, if you find yourself in a situation in which you need a union rep and you don't belong to a union - including if there is no union in your workplace - you can nonetheless hire a union rep from a private service to attend the disciplinary hearing (or whatever) with you. And the employer has to accept this.
Don Hawkins - W7DAH@TimWardCam @pampelmousse Yeah, you also enjoy a national healthcare … this ain’t that. We don’t have nice things … we make bombs and weapons. Do you need a country bombed, we’re your guys.
@donhawkins @pampelmousse Russia, please.