{"id":7752,"date":"2016-02-12T16:57:04","date_gmt":"2016-02-12T16:57:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=7752"},"modified":"2016-02-12T16:57:04","modified_gmt":"2016-02-12T16:57:04","slug":"i-heart-my-union","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=7752","title":{"rendered":"I heart my union"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In Part 5 of our Heart Unions series, we speak to an engineer who knows that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just workers who heart unions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c businesses do, too.<\/p>\n

 
\nThe present government has styled trade unions as \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe enemy within\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, most recently evidenced in their trade union Bill.<\/p>\n

 
\nThey contend that trade unions are always at odds with business, but even the business community understands the power unions have to enhance productivity and keep the wheels of industry turning when relations are good.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite rep and engineer for United Biscuits Matt Gould explains how his workplace is a perfect example of unions working with management to foster a happy and productive workforce.
\nBut it was not always this way, he notes.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAbout five months ago, relations between the workforce and management at our McVities factory in Manchester reached a low point,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt the time, bosses had introduced performance management and they saw unions as something that had to be defeated \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they were constantly reacting to us instead of working with us.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bManagement had criticised what they saw as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098bad behaviours\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 from workers. It got so bad that at one point, the previous manager sent several workers letters saying that if these so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0098bad behaviours\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t change, they would sack us.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when we took action. We held a strike ballot and the result was overwhelming \u00e2\u20ac\u201c there was a return of 98 per cent in favour on a 100 per cent turnout.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nThat, Gould explained, is when upper management woke up and realised that there was something deeply wrong with what was going on at the factory.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bBefore the strike ballot, management just thought that it was a few shop stewards who were causing trouble. But when they saw the ballot result, they woke up.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nThe factory general manager was removed from his position, and the HR and manufacturing managers immediately came to the table to work with the unions.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey sat down with us and asked us what they need to do to improve working conditions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Gould noted. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when we hired a trade union consultancy to do an analysis of the workplace and how management is run. The consultancy made recommendations which were subsequently implemented.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bManagement then realised that what was previously classified as \u00e2\u20ac\u0098bad behaviours\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 was rooted in poor working conditions.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nAmong the various concessions the workers won from management after the strike ballot was a total pay rise of nearly \u00c2\u01417000 by Jan 2017.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like walking into a completely new factory \u00e2\u20ac\u201c people are happy and relations are great,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said.
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt was really gratifying to see management have a total change of perspective on us,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he added. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNow they see us not as a problem but as a part of the solution.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\nIn fact, relations have improved so dramatically that engineers at the factory volunteered to help repair damage to the McVities factory after floods from Storm Desmond devastated the north of England.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe gesture was greeted very positively from senior management and we now have a team of engineers and two engineering apprentices from Manchester assisting with the rebuild,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Gould noted.<\/p>\n

 
\nUnite Biscuits group supply chain director John Titmuss explained that positive industrial relations has led to an improved business.<\/p>\n

 
\n“United Biscuits believes in having a positive and constructive relationship with our trade union partners,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOver recent years we have worked very closely with the trade unions to ensure that we have competitive and flexible working practices that both drive productivity and ensure that we can retain and grow quality jobs in the UK food industry. This has required robust and honest engagement and a willingness on all sides to work together.”<\/p>\n

 
\nGould argued that his experience demonstrates why the trade union Bill is completely unnecessary.<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Bill is nothing but ideology \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not supportive of businesses at all,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve spoken to directors and people in senior management and they see nothing in the Bill that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s pro-business.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIt\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a very small minority of people who are pushing this Bill forward. Even Tory MP David Davis has strong words against the Bill. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s when you realise that the legislation is nothing but a shrouded attack on direct democracy.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  In Part 5 of our Heart Unions series, we speak to an engineer who knows that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not just workers who heart unions \u00e2\u20ac\u201c businesses do, too.   The present government has styled trade unions as \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe enemy within\u00e2\u20ac\u0165, most recently evidenced in their trade union Bill.   They contend that trade unions are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7754,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[483],"wps_subtitle":" Working together means everyone wins ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7752"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7752"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7755,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7752\/revisions\/7755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7754"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}