Why so many workers want to be part of the union

From: Lynda Skinner, St Lawrence Road, Chesterfield.

HERE we go again, let’s bash the unions as though they are some strange species from outer space on a single-minded mission to destroy this nation of ours (Yorkshire Post, June 23).

I can’t help but wonder if these so “knowledgeable” writers on matters of trade unions and the public sector have ever been a member of either.

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Just so they are clear, there is no compulsion for anyone to become a union member, just as there is no obligation for anyone to join the local golf club or women’s institute.

People – not aliens from outer space – do it because they want to. And from their ranks they choose their leader, captain or chairperson, who has usually gone through a selection and election process (where cash for votes is not an issue).

Every worker, trade unionist or not, has benefited through the actions of trade union members past and present and – although very tempted – I’ve resisted the urge to bore you with a long list that includes equal pay, safer working conditions and better training and education for the benefit of all– the worker, employer and nation.

When are we going to grow up and realise that a “them” and “us” attitude has no place in modern 21st-century Britain? Trade unionists are ordinary people – your next door neighbour, the bus driver, the paramedic, the headteacher – who only want to do their best for the benefit of whichever sector they work in, to get a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work and to have their talents and efforts recognised, utilised and respected.

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I am fed up of being made to feel I have anything to apologise for by being a member of a trade union. It’s time everyone realised that in a civilised society we all need each other and that “fairness” should not be a luxury.

For the record, I am not the “enemy within”. I speak as someone who has spent two decades working in the private sector – half of that time as an employer – and two decades working in the public sector. For all of that time I have been a trade union member – because I work and live in the real world.

From: From Mrs E Ellis, Beverley.

PHILIP Smith’s recent letter (Yorkshire Post, June 23) cannot go unanswered. Without getting too personal in public, Mr Smith is not representative of the vast majority of private sector workers.

From the outset, the tone of his letter is confrontational, “taking on the public services”.

I would like Mr Smith to do the following:

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First, to work alongside a teacher, nurse or policeman and really see how “underworked, overpaid and unnecessary they are”.

Secondly, I would like Mr Smith to consult The Grapevine; at the back are the recruitment advertisements for the East Riding Council posts. Then compare the salaries for such with the private sector. The vast majority of council workers are poorly paid and will be getting pensions in line with the private sector.

I agree that the pension payoffs and bonuses of some in the public sector are ridiculous. I also agree that such payouts cannot go on and there is insufficient funding for our ageing population.

However, this population has not just materialised, and yet tax-free bonuses have been paid in both sectors. Now this “unfair façade” will be borne by the most vulnerable in both the private and public sectors.

From: J Williams, Burniston, Scarborough.

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THREE cheers for the article by Nick Hayns (Yorkshire Post, June 23) which gives us the true facts about public sector pensions and states the failure of the unions to accept that there have to be changes because the taxpayer can no longer afford to pay for them.

One thing that was not mentioned in the article is the fact that public servants also get a lump sum – tax free.

Let’s hope that the Government can stand firm so that public and private employees are at last on an equal footing.

From: Phil Donnelly, Kirkburton, Huddersfield.

While Rachel Reeves (Yorkshire Post, June 20) is right to point out the inadequacies of the Government’s state pension programme, with reference to her claim of “women’s unjust wait for their pension”, it is worth remembering that for the last 60 years or more, men have had to wait five years longer than women for their pension, pay five more years in contributions and eventually die some five years earlier than women.

This discrimination has been, and is, worth at least £25,000 to women at current prices.