I know what you mean,
But I think governments are always going to be shitting on the unions, and I'm not sure the unions are doing enough to fight back. They live on this idea that they're for the worker , so the worker must love them. Whereas the worker is as open to government propaganda as everyone else, and the only way to fight back is modernise the unions. A poster on the back of a bog door is nothing against a government spin machine
( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:10, 2 replies, latest was 11 years ago)

How will they fund this modernisation?

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:13, Reply)

The members should pay for it.

(Set your faces to Stunned Bigly, Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:15, Reply)

I don't know.

( Windy Pig I'm naturally quite suspicious about the moon., Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:17, Reply)

I think perhaps part of the problem is the almost indentured nature of a union.
I worked for a school for a short period and I was very heavily leant on to join the union as the perception was that if I didn't, I was somehow betraying the rest of the staff. Unions seem to be hanging onto a perception of workers still being job-for-life, ill-educated and open to bully boy tactics.

I think perhaps modern workers are more mobile, more open to shifting around jobs and perhaps feel like the unions aren't relevant anymore. There's got to be a reason why turn outs for strike votes etc are pretty low and disengagement is usually the answer.
( Kroney, Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:15, Reply)

Chicken/egg

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:16, Reply)

Don't really see how.
It's at least partly the union's responsibility to re-engage their members. They can't just sit back and say "well they need to re-engage with us, until they do we'll just assume they want to do what we want them to do".
( Kroney, Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:20, Reply)

Sadly it's becoming increasingly less likely they will manage it as new generations enter the world of work believing there is something bad about unions.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:23, Reply)

Increasingly less likely?
Decreasingly likely?
Stupid language.
( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Fri 18 Jul 2014, 11:28, Reply)