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The Forum > Article Comments > When did unions become the bad guys? > Comments

When did unions become the bad guys? : Comments

By Luke Faulkner, published 3/10/2007

Unions have to change and actively market these changes or they face the prospect of ending up in a museum.

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Wobbles makes a fair point. Unfortunatley the Dean Mighells of the Unions are making us tar them all with the same union brush.

How about we all stop chasing our own tail and start all over (well lets at least make the work place a rewarding and happy place to be in) then see what happens?

I am personally fed up with big wigs in my company dealings treating me like the number they have allocated me, as I am sure most are. We have to voice our opinions yet how can you when casting a vote only gets a union vote on the left and a big wig vote on the right. I took exception at a propaganda leftlet in my PO Box aimed at Small Business. I am actually a Micro, so that's how important I am in the scheme of things.

Time for a big change.
Posted by QLDPCS, Friday, 5 October 2007 2:15:10 AM
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Not sure who QLDPCS is, but I do not think you have an understanding of workplace harmony.
For some , bosses, workers, and yes unions it is a task too hard to achieve.
It is often not easy even with the best of wills.
And in no way is it only the unions always at fault.
Bad bosses have long ago learned to blame unions for dreadful acts by management.
I remain convinced however that some unions must evolve, find new ways to represent workers.
The lights on the hill are a truth of our past but it is time to move on from an era our members no longer want much to do with , in fact do not understand.
I would ask that we one day look at the sins of management fueled by workchoices.
Like free beer on site after work for staff and heavy penalty's for ordinary workers who do exactly the same, with beer they paid for, some bosses are the villains or is it just dumb?
Posted by Belly, Friday, 5 October 2007 11:15:29 PM
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Belly, when you say,"... we also have people who have by their own action lost a job unions could not save. These type are often the ones highlighting wrongs that did not happen."

Do you really know for a fact that this is true?

Or are your words just a union lullaby, sung to the sheep to fuddle their thinking and soothe their concerns?

I ask this because I have discovered in my FOI documents the soothing lullabies that public servants sing to each other to justify taking no action to deal with my complaint.

"We have investigated this lots of times over the years and found no evidence of bullying" is a favourite.

Then, when I make an FOI application for the "lots of" investigation reports, all copies suddenly "vanish".

It is just so much quicker and easier for public servants (and maybe also union officials) to sing soothing lullabies to each other, rather than to actually make the effort to deal with the abuse
Posted by Dealing With The Mob, Saturday, 6 October 2007 4:08:00 AM
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DWTM are you fairdinkum? or are you in fact just trying to highlight your own problems?
Can you truly think NO WORKER EVER GOT THE SACK BECAUSE THEY DESERVED IT?
Fact is every week some one is sacked and can not be helped a 27 year job came to an end not long ago.
That person had 23 warnings, 5 of them final, for having the day after pay day of 39 times in the last 12 months and a average of 22 times a year for every year!
Your view no one ever deserves the sack, that was your view wasn't it? is proof some think unions let them down when it was a self inflicted wound.
Posted by Belly, Saturday, 6 October 2007 3:00:58 PM
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I can understand where DWTM is coming from. It's a classic excuse from "Yes, Minister" when public servants hide behind phrases like, "there's more to the picture than you can see" and "it's just a part of workplace diversity", etc. The simple fact is they have worked out that these phrases allow them to hide and do nothing.

This is just laziness on the part of the bureaucracy; a former senior public servant referred to this sort of thing in the Department of Defence as learned helplessness. And it is endemic. The fact is that bad workplace behaviour is bad workplace behaviour regardless what a departmental official says it is or what spin is put on it. To understand the department's reaction, it's useful to think of it as an organism: it will evolve and do whatever it has to to survive. The idea that it imparts fairness to people who have been badly treated is complete rubbish. The unfortunate thing is that some unions have become bureaucratised as well. So going to them for help is almost as bad as telegraphing your intentions to the people you are complaining about.
Posted by RobP, Saturday, 6 October 2007 7:52:21 PM
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RobP thanks your support for the idea that I may have a slanted view is welcome.
It wins my case for me, that unions are often wrongly blamed for things and people hear that is untrue and run with it.
I am a whistle blower, having taken on the NSW public service and lost.
I understand the futility of expecting justice from any public service, that industry puts more effort into self defense than work outcomes.
But now 2 posters appear to hold the view no one is ever sacked unfairly.
Posted by Belly, Sunday, 7 October 2007 5:52:42 AM
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