[Kizzy]

Originally Posted by MTVN

I'm not sure Unions will ever become completely obsolete but they do need to modernise. At the moment union leaders often look like sad old men of a bygone age trying to cling to the days when they could bring the country to a grinding halt with strike action and wanting to relive the 70s. The country has moved on though, in most areas old fashioned industrial workplaces are a thing of the past and the Unions were far too slow to realise the shift to a service based economy

How on earth could that be true? It's such a strange concept that anyone would prefer that they had less rights and no secure contract of employment.
It is the efforts of the media that ensures the perception of the unionised member is some militant from the 70s... that would mean that all that advocate unionisation are just about ready to retire now, and that's just not true is it?
All those unite members marching are not OAPs are they, they're young people, mums and dads, people with homes cars and mortgages.
Whether in the public or private sector everyone deserves to work to live not live to work.
I don't want a hand to mouth existence for the next generation who can't build any foundations for the future as there's no secure work to be able to save or borrow against. Why would anyone want to bring the country to a stop? they don't, the country has not moved on it's moved backwards.

It's just been perpetuated that it's less acceptable to ask for or expect rights and or fairness in the workplace now, it isn't and it should never be.
It impacts on the social fabric of this supposed 'civil society' that we have the right to work, to a family and a secure home. I wouldn't have thought that was unacceptable.