I remember when I worked at a local authority the NALGO rep had a go at me for not taking enough sick time. I protested but I've not been sick! He said that you can get away with up to 13 days a year without anyone caring and if I didn't then I'm letting the side down. If course I was not actually in the union at the time but that's the sort of thing unions do. They tried to get me to join but I said why would I join? The only reason is that if you are carp at your job and need some sort of crutch in life. Just one of many reasons why I have always hated unions.
Brought it in 1998 by St Tony, minimum wage is just another form of protectionism. An artificial construct that the left love. An employer will always pay the least they can, that is market forces. If labour is not available then the wage rises until it is. Sadly things like MW just interfere with market forces.
//Why does anyone join a union? Surely it just means you need a crutch because you are either bad at your job or you can't get a job that pays a wage you can live on//
Do you really think that people who join a union are bad at their jobs ?
A lot of people are confident enough and have the skills to walk out of one job and into another .
On the other side of the coin a lot of people are not in a position to do that and need the assistance of a union when there is an issue , in order to stop an employer riding rough shod over them
Also unions are not just there to achieve pay increases. There are a lot less dangerous working practices thanks to the unions, plus help regarding any industrial accident claim. If you lost a limb a few years back, you may have also lost your job without any sort of payout.
Without doubt MT these sort of things do go on, and maybe unions have in the past, and now, get a little out of hand, but so does the employer also.
I remember when I was very young, and the place I went to work, was told that I had to join the union, I said I didn't want to, mainly because I had to pay a monthly premium to them. My wage was already very low so wanted to hang on to it all.
I didn't join, but for months many of the other workers would talk to me because I hadn't. ?
I don't believe people should be allowed to strike. Especially emergency services or medics. I can see the need for unions to negotiate terms and conditions but striking should be outlawed. If you are not happy with the pay go get a better paid job and if you can't find one perhaps yours is not so bad after all.