Careful, you might open someone's eyes to what they don't want to see.

Remember the official line.

"Everything that is wrong in the workplace is the fault of the evil trades unions who have singlehandedly destroyed the Great British Industrial Machine."

Things like employee rights, HSE in the workplace and political correctness must be got rid of as they tie the employer's hands.

Employers have to be free to create wealth, and they can't do that if they are prevented from sacking niggers, jews and other people who don't deserve a job. Likewise, money wasted on improving safety would be better off in the pockets of your betters.

Oh yes, and remember that socialists and all people who have ever striven to improve things for the weak and helpless are donkeys, and are only fit to be mocked by those who are in a good position, and who have no desire to share said good position with anyone else.

Lynn, I'm sure like me you will want to join our little friend for mocking such people?

After all, votes for women or the poor? The work of donkeys!

Minimum wage? The work of donkeys!

HSE making the work place safer? The work of donkeys!

Habeus corpus? The work of donkeys!

The right to a fair trial and a jury of one's peers? The work of donkeys!

End to child labour? The work of donkeys!

Open University? The work of donkeys!

Legalised abortion? The work of donkeys!

Legalisation of homosexuality? The work of donkeys!

Trial by Jury? The work of donkeys!

NHS? The work of donkeys!

Education for the poor? The work of donkeys!

Oddly, were such mocking types in the sh'it, exploited, broke and desperate, I'm willing to bet they'd be praying to god that some such donkey would pass by and give them a hand out of the sh'it.

And what's more, I never knew a non-union member turn down a pay rise negotiated by the union on behalf of the workforce as a whole. Freeloaders, the lot of them.

It was amazing how many membership applications we used to get from people who had never wanted to join before, but mysteriously had just had a workplace accident or got themselves into some disciplinary situation. They were quite petulant to put it mildly when we told them we would not represent them retrospectively!

Nice one. Yeah, I bet you what you like that they were the usual, nasty minded types that took the piss out of the Unions, blamed them for all that was wrong with the labour situation, but when the shit hit the fan came crying for mummy.

Whiners and freeloaders. Doncha hate them?

As an ex union rep, I had quite a few of these freeloaders. When told they wouldn't be represented retrospectively to say they were abusive would be an understatement. I used the analogy of insurance companies not paying out unless you take out the policy before the accident.. but they weren't convinced!

Yes, I used that analogy as well. We even used to get people ringing up who hadn't even applied to join, but "just wanting to ask some advice". On your bike, pal!

So many shop stewards, ex-trade unionists on the forum I am suprised you don't ask Sue for a dedicated section like Esuri

I used to be a union member when I was a hospital worker. I could see all too clearly the protection they provided me.

The ethos of a lot of people here seems to be that the Unions should be abolised.

One lesson life has taught me is that a boat with a hole in is better than no boat at all, and it's a lot cheaper to fix the holes than it is to replace the boat.

I don't have a boat at all, but then, I don't live in a fishing village either. As for the unions... weren't they the ones who stopped the British car industry? I bet they laugh about that now...

Here in Spain, we have unions as well, but they only protect and support the trabajadores, and have nothing to do with the unemployed. They are primarily funded by the State. They are particularly strong in the Civil Service, where the funcionarios are un-fireable and get paid 14 monthly wages a year (both perks introduced, oddly enough, by Franco).
Unionism is, no doubt, a good idea, but it has never been picked by the extranjeros living here. Together, imagine what we could do!

The unions are always a convenient whipping boy for the right wing.

To say that they, single handedly 'stopped' the British car industry, is, methinks a joke. There were an awful lot of things conspiring to end that.

Jeez, put another record on bil.

Just for once mention situations where industrial relations are good, where bosses appreciate their workers and reward them adequately and where workers appreciate the benefits of working for a good company.

Thank the Lord that the true picture is not always as you paint it, and even more so that not everyone is brought up sharing your pre-programmed mindset.

Such a sad rigid black and white, them and us attitude has been just one of the main reasons for much of the poor industrial relations and unrest in more recent years.
It is now way past time for all concerned to move on in a much more positive manner.
It is in the best interests of both workers and bosses to co-operate as far as possible in every possible way, rather than rant on in this constant them and us attitude which does absolutely no one any good at all.

I have already said my piece about the unions and note that others share my view.
They did an excellent job when it was most needed, but for the last half century or so they have probably done their own cause,(sorry that should be the workers cause, not the union leaders),much more harm than good and at the present time seem only able to flex their muscles where least needed, whilst doing very little to help the most needy.
Lets face it, the unions are totally powerless against todays multi nationals who can switch production around the globe at the drop of a hat just as they please.

Well, I'm impressed that you have changed from the point where the unions were 100% negative, down to what, 95%?

An amazing achievement.

I note that others share my view too. So what?

Presumably you are saying that the unions should be scrapped because their sphere of influence only extends to the British isles. Gosh, I never saw that coming.

Another little point, you may be preprogrammed to damn everything the unions and the donkeys do. Me, I was raised in a Tory household, so were I preprogrammed, I'd be on your side. Do try and keep up.

Oh by the way, did you ever come up with a single right that we have that wasn't taken forcefully from the right for us by the donkeys?

I shall be most interested to see if you can.

Perhaps she could set it up at the same time as the British Expats Tory Club. That's what this forum often reads like to me.

Ha,ha, pulling your imaginery figures out of thin air again I see.

However having recognised the previous role of unions prior to the last half century, more times than I care to remember, perhaps you should correct your make believe 100% previous negative figure , closer to 100% positive.

As for the rest of it, pretty much the same old record and seemingly reluctant to even comment on the main gist of my post.
Surprise,surprise.

Try and remember for once that there are also a thousand and one shades of grey bil,..... just like the Spanish sky of late.

I-R-O-N-Y I was being i-ron-i-cal. Look it up in the Big Boy's Book of Big Words.

You do make me laugh with your comments there. Here's a hint.

Pot, kettle. Kettle, pot.

Spanish sky grey? It does get grey. It was grey for several days when it rained. However, the weekend and today here were clear blue skies, with just a few white fluffy clouds that were purely decorative, and didn't obscure the sun.

The lovely thing here is that because of the massive bias towards sunshine, cloudy days are no biggie. I remember the weather diaries I used to keep in the UK, and how depressing they were, being dominated by greyskies. Noteven fluffy clouds so much as the dismal grey scab that was the cloud cover.

You keep telling yourself what you want to believe Dick. The rest of us have reality to enjoy.

I understand irony well enough, but it will take a lot more than that to get you out of the hole you just dug for yourself.
Your failure to comment on the main gist of my previous post more or less speaks for itself.
As for the weather, I refer you to the Cold Weather thread, where I look forward to correcting a few more of your wild fantasies a little later, when I find the time.