LTP;
I think you might be including me in your comments however I can assure I am not myopic. I was unhappy with the union and the way it has performed for about the last seven years. I was also unhappy with the lack of communication.
What did I do about it? I wrote a letter resigning with the reasons why.
You think the membership (at least a significant part of it) is not apathetic? So why could almost 40% of them not be a**ed to even return a postal ballot regarding pensions?
Why are there so many people so happy too moan about the union yet continue to pay their subs each month?
Apathy (or the fact that they like to moan about things).
Maybe the actions of the union in the past have led to this apathy, however if you continue to pay subs then the union will think that everything is rosy.
I am happy to say that in my opinion the union seems to have stepped up a gear both in taking on management and not just believing them, and also in improving communication, therefore I am rejoining the fold.
So you think the union was hoodwinked into recommending a 'yes' vote over the pensions? Why should that stop the members, supposedly of higher average intelligence than other union membership in different industries/professions, from voting the way they wanted to vote, or from voting at all?
I assume, LTP, that desite your dissatisfaction with the union, you still pay your subs each month? Why? You can gain as much professional protection via GATCO for a fraction of the cost. Yet you still pay them money each month? I'm afraid I can get my mind round that one as it seems to me that you think you get nothing for your money!
As for updates it seems to me, and I am still a sceptic, that the union has recently kept us up to date. The 2 or 3 paragraphs is more than enough, or do you and others want a transcript of the meetings?
As it stands, the union are showing all the signs of rolling over for management again...
Where exactly do you get this notion from?
There is no real sign of the union actually withdrawing from the AAVA agreement, so this was just another empty threat like so many communiques before it.
Again, where do you get this notion from? The union told management that it would not be renewing the AAVA agreement i.e. it would be withdrawing from it. Legally the union could not do this until 28th April as they had signed a legal agreement that stated the AAVA agreement would be in place until then. 2 weeks on Thursday the agreement runs out. There is no plan to renew it. I think you do not understand what 'withdrawing from the agreement' actually entails.
Del Prado,
Traffic figures are readily available on the intranet. No conspiracy there I'm afraid. Maybe they are not advertised as much as they used to be, but they are there.
Also, you say we should let the AAVA agreement run out as a means to getting a pay rise. You are saying we should do exactly what management want us to do, i.e. tie AAVAs to the CORE PAY talks.
It is a totally seperate issue and should remain that way.
CORE PAY is exactly that. No added bells and whistles, just a settlement on the basic pay and allowances we get.
Management shoud be told that until the core pay deal is settled, other Ts and Cs (which means AAVAs etc) will not be discussed. Selling ourselves out for an extra half a percent (or whatever) for a permanent AAVA deal at the current rate is not the way to go.