Span on Unions

Span has done a series of six (to date) posts on myths about unions. They’re subjective of course but worth reading. I’m linking to each below, with some brief comments of my own.

Union Myth #1 – Union membership is compulsory

Span is of course quite right that union membership is not compulsory. I don’t actually know of anyone who asserts they are incidentally. However they are compulsory if you wish to be on a collective contract (you could try forming your own of course) and in the public sector the Government does give considerable incentives for public servants to join the union.

Also in some workplaces, such as schools, not belonging to a union can result in shall we say strong disapproval.

Union Myth #2 – All unionists want to grow up to be Labour MPs

I could be flippant and say Span’s defence is some want to be Green MPs instead, but no she has a valid point that those who use unions as a stepping stone for parliamentary ambitions are in the minority.

It is interesting to note though that while not many Unionists become Labour MPs, most Labour MPs were unionists.

union myths – #3 unions are just like businesses

Span says that unions are democratic and members have ultimate control. This is true, but I think glosses over the institutional reality that unions (just like almost any democratic society) tend to have an inner core who are hugely influential and powerful. The opportunity for an individual to change things is quite limited unless they are prepared to devote every waking hour to campaigning for change. As I said this is not just a feature of unions but of many groups.

union myths – #4 unions just protect the incompetent

Span posts on the need for proper process, and she is correct that this is important. But I think the current law does weigh process too heavily over substance. Span herself notes that she has never seen a disciplinary process done without at least one flaw. It is difficult to have perfect process, especially small employers who do not have inhouse legal and HR teams.

I would recommend all employers read this post though as Span has provided a useful little checklist of what you should do for fair process.

I would also assert that in certain areas like education, unions do actively protect incompetent teachers. We can debate that some other time.

Union Myths #5 – Shortland Street tells it like it is

I’m hoping no-one really does treat Shortland Street as a guide to reality.

Union Myths #6 – Unions just go on strike all the time

Well of course they don’t – the law doesn’t allow it. 🙂

I will say that strikes are much rarer than the bad old days of the 1970s and 1980s. Here’s the total number of work days lost through stoppages for each parliamentary term:

1970 – 72 574,000
1973 – 75 670,000
1976 – 78 1,305,000
1979 – 81 1,143,000
1982 – 84 1,126,000
1985 – 87 2,451,000
1988 – 90 906,000
1991 – 93 237,000
1994 – 96 161,000
1997 – 99 53,000
2000 – 02 100,333
2003 – 05 55,654

One can see the dramatic (and excellent) effect the ECA had in the early 1990s bringing work stoppages down to eventually a low of 53,000 person days over three years. It doubled in Labour’s first term (but still way lower than in the past) and went back down in their second term. One year into their third term it is 28,000 which suggest an increase again.

Kudos to Span for posting a good series of issues based posts. If I could be disciplined enough I should do a series on myths around being an employer and small business owner. The issues around recruitment, retention, compliance costs, paperwork, staff morale, cashflow, sacking staff etc are many and varied.