• CoderKat@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    Your union sucks then. Unions have done all sorts of things besides get more pay. They fight for benefits like vacation and sick time, make sure you can’t be fired without cause, ensure good work/life balance, make your job physically safe, and help bad management be held accountable.

    Striking isn’t the only tool in a union’s répertoire. They’ll also do things like help pay for lawyers to fund legal action (hard to do as an individual) and negotiate on your behalf. Most people don’t want to be negotiators (especially the most vulnerable) The union does that undesirable work for you and can often hire experts to do it.

    Work to rule is an alternative to striking that is similar but keeps you working. That’s doing exactly what your contract says and nothing more (eg, bus drivers have done it by not collecting fares, but still driving their routes; teachers have done it by only teachong their classes without doing any extra coaching or supervision on the side). And since your comment suggests that people won’t strike because they can’t go without pay, they can also pay you for the duration of a strike.

    • Aussie_Damo@lemmy.world
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      11 months ago

      I know your paid for a strike but not at full pay and people are stupid and live paycheck to paycheck.

      In our industry (mining) the government is alot more strict then the union ever is about safety or the government will remove the mining lease and shit the place down (been done to other pits in the area).

      We work a rotating roster that the company sent to the union during EA talks and they said yeah that’s fine without consulting the workforce, and it’s been that way since and trying to get the older guys to change to a better roster is a nightmare.

      Sick leave and vacation time is government mandated.

      You might live in a destopian country with a shitty government but our unions ride the arse of the governments country wide employment mandates and then say they do alot.