stage 1 interview

[cantbelieveit's...]

Hell -fire I wouldn't represent you

I would have.
Not on behalf of the CWU....but as a colleague.
I think there are enough tossers in this company without us starting a lynch mob every time a non-member turns up.
Any non-members reading this thread are really going to want to join now aren't they?.
Does anybody actually know why unions were formed...and why they are dying on their arse?.

So i pay £3 odd a week ,mr non-member pays nothing but still gets representation, why should i pay?? Union rules say he should not be represented

[Godric]

don't fret i will get a stage 1 as well when i go back to work ... just had a hernia op a couple of days before crimbo ... it will be my first stage 1 warning in 21 years of service

Why do you assume you will get a stage 1?
When I returned after knee surgery my DOM (yes my DOM) argued that as the business would also benefit from the surgery I shouldn't be issued with a stage. And I wasn't.
I assume the business will also benefit from you having had your hernia op.
The issuing of stages shouldn't be mechanistic.

we don't have a DOM ... just a supervising phg ... as our dom covers 2 offices and he spends all his time at his other office ... the nature of my hernia .. might mean i might not make a 100% recovery

[clashcityrocker]

Hell -fire I wouldn't represent you

I would have.
Not on behalf of the CWU....but as a colleague.
I think there are enough tossers in this company without us starting a lynch mob every time a non-member turns up.
Any non-members reading this thread are really going to want to join now aren't they?.
Does anybody actually know why unions were formed...and why they are dying on their arse?.

So i pay £3 odd a week ,mr non-member pays nothing but still gets representation, why should i pay?? Union rules say he should not be represented

If you read Fishtank's post he says he wouldn't represent him as a CWU rep but accompany him as a colleague.
And he is right.
Unless we show ourselves to be bigger people, non members will regard us as small-minded prats.
I talk to strike-breakers as well.

[fishtank]

Hell -fire I wouldn't represent you

I would have.
Not on behalf of the CWU....but as a colleague.
I think there are enough tossers in this company without us starting a lynch mob every time a non-member turns up.
Any non-members reading this thread are really going to want to join now aren't they?.
Does anybody actually know why unions were formed...and why they are dying on their arse?.

So i pay £3 odd a week ,mr non-member pays nothing but still gets representation, why should i pay?? Union rules say he should not be represented

Did you read my post?
I said i wouldn't represent him on behalf of the CWU...only as a colleague.
You pay your subs so that you can be represented...not so that others can't.
This CWU isn't a secret society...and it isn't the beginning and end of the Trade Union Movement.
I am a Trade Unionist first and a CWU member second.
And a real Trade Unionist would not stand back and see a colleague being rolled over by management.

[clashcityrocker]

[
Did you read my post?
I said i wouldn't represent him on behalf of the CWU...only as a colleague.
You pay your subs so that you can be represented...not so that others can't.
This CWU isn't a secret society...and it isn't the beginning and end of the Trade Union Movement.
I am a Trade Unionist first and a CWU member second.
And a real Trade Unionist would not stand back and see a colleague being rolled over by management.

And I wish you were my rep.

[cantbelieveit's...]

rubbish!! if you are a cwu rep then saying i will represent him as a colleague is crap , if the members in your office will fall for that then shame on them, you could be losing members by pissing members off. shall we just scrap all subs for everyone??

[brothermagrew]

All managers will enforce stages as they are under extreme pressure from above. If/when it gets to stage 3 you have clear grounds for appeal and then you need your union rep, for this just take a colleague in off the IPS

No they don't. If you have a good case to argue - you argue it and sometimes they do listen.
Unfortunately people aren't always good at arguing their own case when in a formal situation and that is why you need a rep.
I'm not sure that a colleague has the same rights in an interview as a rep. Aren't they there as a witness more than anything?

What is the companion’s role at a disciplinary or grievance hearing?

The companion must be permitted to address the hearing in order to put the worker's case, sum up the case and respond on the worker's behalf to any view expressed at the hearing. He or she must also be permitted to confer with the worker during the hearing. However, the companion has no right to answer questions on behalf of the worker, to address the hearing if the worker does not wish him or her to do so, or to prevent the employer explaining its case.

[fishtank]

rubbish!! if you are a cwu rep then saying i will represent him as a colleague is crap , if the members in your office will fall for that then shame on them, you could be losing members by pissing members off. shall we just scrap all subs for everyone??

Do you really believe that paying £3 a week entitles you to decide who your rep helps in his/her own time?...that's a bit arrogant is it not?
If you go to see your Doctor do you tell him/her who they can treat and who they can't?
Do you feel that if you pay for a service that means that no-one should get it for free?
Not really a Socialist viewpoint but each to their own i suppose.
Solidarity forever etc....

[TrueBlueTerrier]

rubbish!! if you are a cwu rep then saying i will represent him as a colleague is crap , if the members in your office will fall for that then shame on them, you could be losing members by pissing members off. shall we just scrap all subs for everyone??

Then they are CWU members for selfish reasons and I cannot agree with that view. An injury to one is an injury to all, its not An Injury to one is ok if they don't belong to my Union. Down that path lies crossing other Unions picket lines and not showing solidarity.

I pay my dues not in case I need to be represented, I can do that by myself. I pay my dues as a way of ensuring that the CWU is there to help those who need it, and to help defend my rights and conditions if the business start attacking them.

[madmartin]

Im in for a stage 1 interview on Friday. Got signed by GP off back in October for 5 weeks with tendonitis/tinosinovtis in my elbow. Did 5 weeks rehab on return(part walk and building up to full) Back on full duty now. My GP said the tendon trouble will probably return so dont want a stage hanging over me. Problem is I dropped out of the union last year(cos they sh*t on us left,right,and centre) and the rep said he wont represent me at the stage interview unless I rejoin the union. I told him to ram it. So has anyone got any advice, and who could I take in with me?

If you think the union is rubbish why are you botherd that your rep wont come in with you then?

[fishtank]

If you think the union is rubbish why are you botherd that your rep wont come in with you then?

I think.and it's only an opinion that like a lot of members who have left,he has let his feelings for HQ cloud his judgement.
I think members like this guy could be encouraged back into the fold quite easily....although reading some of the replies on this thread i'm beginning to have second thoughts.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

If you think the union is rubbish why are you botherd that your rep wont come in with you then?

I think.and it's only an opinion that like a lot of members who have left,he has let his feelings for HQ cloud his judgement.
I think members like this guy could be encouraged back into the fold quite easily....although reading some of the replies on this thread i'm beginning to have second thoughts.

Your right its an old problem once addressed by a man a lot more eductaed than me who said to paraphrase him "Ask not what can the Union can do for me, Ask what I can do for the Union". Perhaps the grass roots membership also has a fundamental, if understandable problem, of viewing the CWU from a selfish standpoint rather than as a grouping of like minded people. Selfishness from the bottom and Detachment from the top could be a very destructive mix.

[cantbelieveit's...]

if these people want help then the question has to be asked "why are you not a member"?

This is a true story,
Had a colleague, not a very nice individual. Got into bother for wilful delay and was not a member, was told if he joined then we would help, so he joined we helped saved his job, few months later stopped paying his subs, this pissed us all off. In the meantime have asked him many a time to re-join answer has been no, slags of union over BT2010 blah blah blah. this week has had a stage 2(attendance), cheeky tw@t asked me to help him . In which i replied ...well you can guess.
To which he went in on his own and got the stage 2 . So i take your point tbt and fish, maybe circumstances need to be taken into account sometimes. But i still don't understand why these people are not members they should show some unity and become a member.instead of being freeloaders.

[fishtank]

But i still don't understand why these people are not members they should show some unity and become a member.instead of being freeloaders.

..because like with everything in life...people are different.
Some people realise on their own.
Some people need the stick.
And some people need gentle encouragement.
It's always a mistake to think that just because we see the big picture....everybody sees it...or even worse that those who don't see it are blind.

[POSTMAN]

You have to be nice to non members,just in case they become a member?
And then the non member who decided to feck the union off then goes crying to them when they are in the s**t.