Union Strike Threat At Major Energy Sites

[Guest Steve Cook]

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Business/...115374810?f=rss

If the employers are renaging on a pay deal then the workers are bound to act.

Any one of us would, if we could, do the same to protect our interests if another party renaged on a deal with us.

The fact that this action will be a major pain in the *rse for the rest of us (including me) is an unfortunate consequence. I have my own personal agenda, the energy company bosses have theirs and the workers of those companies have theirs.

Expect a lot more of the same in all sectors of the economy over the coming months and years.

Edited September 4, 2009 by Steve Cook

[jackalope]

Given that most union members pay £70-100 per year in subs I don't think the money is likely to make that much difference.

So why are we giving the bruvvas 10mil a year then? Just so they can give it back to the Labour party on our behalf?

[Guest absolutezero]

So why are we giving the bruvvas 10mil a year then? Just so they can give it back to the Labour party on our behalf?

Not many unions are affiliated to Labour (or any other political party any more).

The list of affiliated unions is on https://secure2.labour.org.uk/join/.

There's a menu towards the bottom.

[Authoritarian]

Unions can only do what the members mandate them to do, which was at the heart of the miners debacle.

Unions are not sophisticated policy machines, that is the difference they have from political parties. It is also their strength. Address the employment, pay and conditions issues and other organisations must address the consequences.

In over 100 years we have failed to find a better way doing it. Certainly, no sensible political party wants to interpose itself between workers and management.

The issue with the unions is that they're outdated and due to the age of the membership have a vested interest in the property market (as well as stock market for their pensions) that means any meaningful reforms are be avoided; they don't want to rock the status quo any more than it has been.

They could pursue any type of policy they want yet they've their preferred route keeps leaving them in an economic cul de sac. You would have thought that after so many decades of failure behind them (even when they got what they wanted) they'd have learnt from their mistakes.

[awaytogo]

So why are we giving the bruvvas 10mil a year then? Just so they can give it back to the Labour party on our behalf?

What you cannot see Jackalope is the wood for the trees (as the saying goes), Here are companys aided by the goverment who are flooding the market with labour, a surplus remember (supply and demand) which causes prices (in this case wages) to fall which in turn will lead to deflation or stagnation. If this situation suits your case all be it.

[Kurt Barlow]

Well we need some practice for bigger power cuts later, on account of not building enough new nuc's or wind farms.

Would the 3G network fail during the blackouts? I could sit in the car with a laptop and dongle but I don't know if 3G masts have back up generators.

Two anecdotes on this issue.

I rent out 1 or 2 rooms now and again. A girl who was a trainee engineer for NPower looked at a room and noticed I had wood burning stove, solar water heating and said I was planning to put in PV sytem because I had no faith in us having a reliable electricity supply in the future. Her reply was - thats a very wise decision.

I also had a conversation with a telecoms engineer who is putting in all the communication equipment to run rolling power cuts