I worked in a large organisation, which employed 6,000 people.
The directorate boss wanted to get rid of people. To be fair, this person was a cnut who made things difficult. But the Union told her she couldn't do plan A, so do plan B.
I didn't like this person and suggested a work improvement plan. She couldn't add up (she was a cashier and was losing hundreds of pounds). She made allegations about everyone etc. But she called the boss 'a snout faced bitch', she was caught going through my private locker etc, so she had to go.
I was flabbergasted that the Union helped management with the plan. They didn't know any of the issues we had with her. HR even checked her pay slips for Union deductions, whilst I pointed out she could pay by direct debit, before my boss spoke to the union directly. Which as it turns out they helped us anyway. I thought this was insane, given they are funded by worker's pay. Surely this is unethical?
I, myself had issues with another company. When I spoke to my union about it they completely f*cked me off on a technicality, so I couldn't access their legal services. Another time when I asked for some advice about putting in a claim and the likelihood of it, they ran off to ask my HR department (who then told my boss). ''Don't worry, we kept it anonymous. We said it was just a man in the finance department on Scale 5 money asking why other people in his team are on Scale 7 money'', for reference – I was the only male Scale 5 in Finance.
I'm now in another organisation. I absolutely love it (well, okay, I might be getting carried away there).
But I wouldn't dream of joining another union and paying them money.
Has anyone had any good experiences with them?