Help needed over joining the union whilst suspended

[m99999]

to be honest, i would have thought the union accepted that everyone has a moment in their life where they realise the need for the union, not everyone is born into the tradition or has worked in union represented work places all their life, and that moment can come when you are suddenly accused of something.

its disappointing to find out that the union will accept a membership but wont help you right away. without representation i might not get the chance to go back to work anyway.

[POSTMAN]

I think it depends on who you are and what kind of person you are and why you did not join the union in the 1st place.

[m99999]

given some of the replies on here it seems that the union and some of its members take it as a personal insult if you havent joined before, and take pleasure in seeing people in need of help but unable to get it. it seems like the union people will take care of themselves more than the workers in general, which i mistakenly thought was the main objective of the union, i didnt realise it was such a closed club for people in my situation.

previously i was told that the union will represent you from the moment you ask them to, almost like an oral contract. i was obviously wrong.


thanks to those who have been helpful though.

[fishtank]

Ask an insurance company for health insurance when you already have a terminal illness and you will get the same reply.

[steven100]

I'm not sure how long you've been a postie or why you didn't join but you should be telling all fellow posties to join up that haven't in your area of work. Get your forms in and hopefully your kind union rep will represent you.

[m99999]

i think thats where ive been mistaken. a health insurance company is a money making business, i assumed the union was more than that and took the need of the worker as more important than their own feelings.

hopefully i will still be in the job long enough to take advantage of joining.

[not me]

i think thats where ive been mistaken. a health insurance company is a money making business, i assumed the union was more than that and took the need of the worker as more important than their own feelings.

hopefully i will still be in the job long enough to take advantage of joining.

well turn it around
why should you get help for a couple of weeks subs,when others have been paying their subs for many years?
why did you choose not to join in the first place?

[fishtank]

i think thats where ive been mistaken. a health insurance company is a money making business, i assumed the union was more than that and took the need of the worker as more important than their own feelings.

hopefully i will still be in the job long enough to take advantage of joining.

It takes the needs of the collective over the individual which is why it can't go around throwing members money at people who have chosen not to be union members...until they find themselves knee deep in s**t.

Now if you knew me you would realise that i would have no problems representing you on an individual basis in my own time...but not using union facilities.

[m99999]

i have no intention of arguing with people on here, this thread has been helpful to me.

to be perfectly honest ive never been around a union before, im not a postie and where i work there isnt a big union influence, ive never heard of or seen any meetings with the rep and the members for instance. whilst ive been working there the union has always been in the background mentioned every now and then, ive never been asked to join or talked to a rep, but i cant say that ive ever given much thought to joining in the past.

that has obviously been my fault, i honestly didnt think the union would be so upset about it. if they represented me and helped me keep my job, which lead to me being a member for years and years would they really care how i joined? presumably not everyone who joins the union does it out of a philosophy, and turns to it in their time of need?

anyway, ive learnt in this thread what i wanted to, the union wont represent me and i cant get outside representation. hopefully things will work out ok me, theres no need for me to keep asking for help here, so thanks to everyone who gave me the information. bye.

[POSTMAN]

Just answer the questions,how long you been in the job and why did you not join the union before.
There may be a perfectly reasonable answer as to why you didn't join before but i guess not as you would of told us by now.

Edit ffs it posted after he posted.

[m99999]

sorry, ill clarify again.

its true i never joined the union, but i never really made a decision not to join the union, it just wasnt something that i thought about, or was part of the conversation where i worked. i guess you would call it ignorance.

[POSTMAN]

What job do you do?

[m99999]

i work in an office, but i really dont want to give personal details away.

im going to leave the thread now, cheers for all the help.

[clashcityrocker]

It is a Branch decision isn't it?
My Area rep chose to represent someone who wasn't a CWU member until they were in trouble.
He didn't have to but I asked him nicely because i thought our colleague deserved our help.

[spurs1959]

Ask an insurance company for health insurance when you already have a terminal illness and you will get the same reply.

I like your answer these people want it always don't mind the pay rises etc the union get you but don't want to pay unions subs if your not in the union sort your own f***ing s***t out don't start crying when the going gets tough