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Views on strikes and workers who take industrial action


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Just want to take a wee thread view on the views of guys on here , on people who take strike action , if anyone wants to add anything of interest I would appreciate it , I will explain later on .

 

please any trolls or any one at it please don’t post .

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I think if workers have valid claims against their employers, they should have rights that include industrial action.  Each set of circumstances is different though.

 

Trade Unionism largely seems to be a thing of the past, particularly as the UK switches from jobs in industry to office jobs, retail etc.  

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16 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

I think if workers have valid claims against their employers, they should have rights that include industrial action.  Each set of circumstances is different though.

 

Trade Unionism largely seems to be a thing of the past, particularly as the UK switches from jobs in industry to office jobs, retail etc.  

The type of work you do is irrelevant; ultimately the only defence workers have is collective action. Even in a socialist society I still see a place for unions, even just a check on bureaucracies. If labour is to be denied the right to strike then so too should the owners of capital be forbidden from taking a capital strike. How come no one ever talks about that?

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Not being fully aware of negotiations, I'd hope it's a bit of a last resort but if that's what it has come to then that tells its own story.

 

The problem with that is they're unlikely to gain public support due to the impact their actions will have on holiday makers.

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1 minute ago, alexscottislegend said:

The type of work you do is irrelevant

I agree but a bunch of blokes working together in a factory tended to have a lot more in common than a lot of modern workforces.

 

Harvard Business School teaches us all to look out for number one and f*ck everyone else and I despise that.  But there's no getting away from it nowadays.

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Again thanks guys and especially Gonzo on the effect of public support , I’m sure you have guessed I’m pretty close to this , and am just wondering what effects the media coverage , social media has on people forming opinions on this type of action .

 

Should striking workers have the right to comment on social media or should employers have the right to sack people for commenting on industrial action .

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The place to start with this is to recognise two salient truths. 

 

1. Employers benefit from having motivated and productive employees who recognise the value of having successful and sustainable employers. The most successful companies are those with visionary leadership, competent management and committed employees.

 

2. Employees benefit from having successful and sustainable employers who recognise the value of having motivated and productive employees. The most successful employees are those with visionary leaders, competent managers and are able to commit themselves to the company.

 

Which is a long winded way of saying there is a near perfect symmetry in a successful relationship between employer and employee. What's good for one is almost always good for the other. There is no natural conflict of interest, even though conflict is commonplace. When one loses, the other almost always loses too. However, in my own experience, that perfect symmetry is almost never seen because employers and employees almost never behave perfectly. Where one side of the relationship believes the other side isn't delivering their side of the bargain, whether justified or not and for whatever reason, conflict arises where the employer underachieves and the employee is under-productive.

 

The proposition is often made that employees must act collectively to gain power in a struggle against the employer. I believe adopting that position means both sides have already lost out and conflict will only exacerbate the situation. But it happens because employers and employees are both human beings, each with his or her full compliment of prejudices and emotional instabilities. There's almost never a right or wrong in the moral sense, only a pursuit of mutual disadvantage. When unions enter the equation they bring with them a new set of goals and aspirations, often at odds with the best interests of both employer and employee.

 

I agree with those who say employees have a right to take strike action, subject to the requirements of the law, just as employers have a right to take counter-action. I just think the chances of either party emerging with a more of their principal aims achieved is close to zero and future conflict is usually guaranteed.

 

Good employers and employees recognise the mutual benefits of cooperation and shared understanding of each other's goals. But there are too few good employers or good employees around so they keep on blaming each other instead, like the good tribalists most of us are.

 

 

 

Edited by Bill
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16 minutes ago, rbr said:

Should striking workers have the right to comment on social media 

I'd support a workers right to comment but I'd also urge them to be very wary about what they say.  Even if it isn't subject to disciplinary action at that moment, it'll be stored away for a later date.  

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Modern life styles lead most people to only think of themselves , which I fully understand , there is no social cohesion anymore and I believe

 

 this is shown no where greater than when workers take strike action 

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