Why are we paying to subsidise the unions?

[sir_arthur_strebe-grebling]

http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/debate/columnists/andy-silvester-why-are-taxpayers-subsidising-u...

This week, the TaxPayers’ Alliance revealed the scandalous £108m subsidy that the Government grants trade unions through paid time off for union duties and direct payments. That equates to some 2,841 full-time equivalent public sector staff working on trade union duties at taxpayers’ expense

Why?

[upthecreekyetagain]

Could just as well ask why some staff are paid to train as first aiders.  It is part of the employment package and can be considered as part of the overall remuneration package and conditions of work.

[sir_arthur_strebe-grebling]

Treating sickness or injury at work is not the same as going off to discuss how to organise the next strike.

Let them do that in their own time at their own expense.

[upthecreekyetagain]

Both first aid training and unions are for the benefit of staff and are part of the overall employment package agreed by the employer.  Unions do many things and provide many benefits and are far from being all about strikes.  Of course without unions many of the safeguards for workers, such as having trained first aiders available, just wouldn't exist.

[Anonymous]

We could also ask why do the public subsidise MPs, I.E their expensis, but since this is another union knock down by sir a, i dare say i wasnt supposed to ask that question?

[evoman3957]

Very few of these entities are totally to blame for the way they've turned out, or what they've morphed into; life, people, events, necessity, have all contributed to making them what they are today. Without unions, you just KNOW most businesses would take advantage of their workers, sooner or later. Wage bills are the biggest outlay for any business and therefore the obvious one to cut, to boost profits...........that's why we can't compete with China; with some workers on £2 per Day ( India included ). To think Big Business here wouldn't do the same, if they could get away with it, is to be naive in the extreme................we're talking about GREED here; the driving force behind most Human Sin.

[saasher2012]

The unions not only protect the workers but also the bosses & can settle disputes amicably, it's only when they think they can dictate
Without good cause they come into conflict, sometimes they are too powerful for they're own good & destroy the very thing they are trying to improve!

[lambsy_uk]

Thankfully Unions today are not all about collective bargaining and industrial action, modern unionism has evolved to become appropriate representation of more individual needs.

Today unions deal with environmental matters in the workplace and effects on the wider environment, equality matters related to any form of actual or potential discrimination and its elimination (E.g. Disability Champions), promotion of training and learning, Health and Safety representation, Information and Consultation representation, European consultative bodies such as European Works Council, Pension representation, 'TUPE' representation, Collective redundancy, Workforce agreement representation which may involve working time, maternity, paternity and fixed term employment.

They may represent someone in matters of grievance dispute or discipline.

Today they do a much more constructive job of supporting staff while considering conpany needs and policies. For this representitives need to be trained and given time during working hours to perform their duties; I don't think it's statutory for this time to be paid for but I'd suggest it would be good company policy to do so.

[al**bear]

and we all believe the facts and figures reported by the Millionaires Club, the Taxpayers Alliance, don't we