[Courses] Re: [Spineful Living, Lesson 4: Saying No!]

[Anna Baik]

On Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:48:32 +0100 Conor Daly <c.daly at met.ie> wrote:
> On Thu, Apr 26, 2007 at 10:43:38AM -0700 or thereabouts, Carla Schroder wrote:
> > On Thursday 26 April 2007 07:20, Doc Nielsen wrote:
[about being unjustly fired for taking much delayed and pre-agreed leave]
> > > Needless to say, my union is now filing a suit against him...
> >
> > Yay!
> >
> > Interestingly, a lot of US technical professionals are anti-union because as
> > far as I can tell, they're trapped in this weird "rugged individualist"
> > philosophy, like they're geek John Waynes or something. When the reality is
> > the employer has all the resources and power. (I know, some unions are
> > corrupt and evil, but that's a different issue.)
>
> It's important to note that (depending on jurisdiction) you don't
> necessarily need a union to file an unfair dismissal suit.  If your country
> has unfair dismissal legislation, you can take the suit yourself.

True, but as Doc pointed out, the benefit of having a union take a
suit on your behalf is that they have a whole legal dept at their
call.  And, seeing as this is what they do *all the time*, they know
all the tricks. Especially the dirty ones your employer will try to
pull.  But yes - if you happen to be in that situation without being
fortunate enough to have the backing of a decent (or even semi-decent)
union, then yes, it is important to know that it's still possible to
do something about it in many jurisdictions.

*However* - seeing as this is the Spineful Living course - I'd add
that it's just as important to decide for yourself whether you want to
pursue a suit, without feeling that you "have to".  It's likely to be
a major commitment, and you have the right to say no if you don't feel
that you can handle it, or if you just don't *want* to handle it.

Going back to the union thing, I just don't get the "rugged
individualist" anti-union stance that Carla mentions.  I mean - I
regularly pay people to perform professional services for me because I
don't have the time, the energy, the ability, or the desire to become
skilled and knowledgeable enough in multiple fields to do them for
myself.  And I count my union dues as just that - fees paid for
professional services - they're MY HR dept, they work for ME.  My
employer's HR dept is just that - my employer's, working for my
employer's interests, not mine, except where they happen to coincide.

I'm the world's crappiest negotiator, so being able to contract out
the pay negotiation part of the whole employment deal to someone else
for a very reasonable fee makes me extremely happy.  Collective
bargaining rules!  I get a yearly raise, and someone *else* gets to
waste weeks of their life attending meetings on my behalf.  Really,
what's not to like about that?

cheers,
Anna