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From The Socialist newspaper, 11 August 2021
From the shopfloor
You need a union when the time comes to fight. Join one today!
(Click to enlarge)
Séamus Mac An Ghabhain, Northampton Socialist Party
I recently left my job for another, and my previous employer wanted me to pay back full training costs. A cost they wanted me to pay back before I got my month's wages, and higher than what I would get anyway.
So I phoned my union and they've helped me out so much.
I told my rep that they wanted me to work overtime (70 hours extra a week), pay for training I haven't even gained, and training that was not only statutory, but also mandatory. The rep who backed me up was calm and polite, and when I was talking off track he got me back to the point.
So I raised a grievance and had a meeting. I was so nervous that I was shaking. The rep got me to relax and told me to remember that we're not letting them get away with this without a fight. And we didn't.
Long story short, my cost decreased and every time my rep spoke or asked a question, the manager and HR couldn't give him a straight answer or give a proper reply. He had them shaking in their boots, but they had to stick with their objective, ie to get me to pay back as much as I can. So the terms and conditions after the grievance for paying back my training was better but still absolutely awful. So my rep said that we have a right to appeal and we could get more out of this. So I happily agreed.
At the end of the meeting my supervisor had to come to me and ask me to leave my work for the foreseeable future (being paid of course) because my managers didn't have the balls to tell me themselves.
I phoned my rep and we both laughed.
Join a trade union or you will wish you had one behind you when it's too late. Unions do so much more than offer car insurance and other benefits. When you tell your union what to do when the time comes they'll fight for it. Join a union!
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In The Socialist 11 August 2021:
NHS
Defend the NHS. Fight the Tory pay insult. Prepare strike action!
NHS: Kick out the privatisers, Fight for funding, Build for strike action
News
Tory government nationalises Sheffield steel plant
Tory cuts worsened crime and Johnson 'blitz' won't help
Thanks to the miners - an example of workers' struggle and solidarity
Comment
Olympic 'success' masks cuts and inequality in sport
Campaigns news
Capitalism = climate catastrophe
Rising against a rigged and rotten system - Socialism 2021
London Pride cancelled - pandemic shows protest Pride is necessary
London: Hundreds protest for trans rights
Save Newham's theatres from Labour council cuts!
Socialist Party young members summer school
A day in the life of a young hospitality worker
West Midlands: austerity and capitalism offers no future for young people
Why I joined the Socialist Party
Don't privatise Dudley libraries
Socialist Party: Solely funded by the working class
Review - The Struggle for World Socialism
Housing
Waltham Forest: Fighting for a home for Nadia and homes for all
History
August 1991 - The aborted military coup in the 'Soviet Union'
Workplace news
Ballot majority essential to continue DVLA strike action
Night tube strike suspended to allow talks - scrap compulsory duties!
RMT strike solid on East Midlands rail
You need a union when the time comes to fight
Unions protest at exploitative Leicester company Food Attraction
Over 3,000 votes for fighting socialist programme in CWU
International news
Beirut's devastating port explosion one year on
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2021