Brilliant, absolutely the best put down of Trade Unions I have ever heard.
Trades Unions, and so many others, would only love if the world was a better place, but they are unwilling to put in the effort to build a better world. I "would only love" if customers bought my services, its a bummer to have to go out there and sell them.
Recruitment is the TU officials job, especially in the difficult sectors.
I would disagree. Some 16% of private sector workers are in trade unions. Some 70% of public sector workers. Apparently, public sector workers have permanent pensionable, unsackable jobs - why would they need a trade union in first place?
Apparently, if you were to believe some of the posters on this site, private sector workers are faced with the gauntlet of facing the sack everyday they go to work. It's no wonder they have cowered, fear to stick their heads lest they face the gullitine. Yet, they cannot find common cause with each other, to know that solidarity has its strengths.
I am by no means a cheerleader for trade unions. I am a member, active in recruitment (on a voluntary basis) and promoting ideals of trade unionism. But I'm not naive to think that trade unions are not without flaws.
A good example of this is the (in)famous miners strike in the UK in the eighties. Considering where we are at now with climate change etc, Thatcher was right to shut down the mines. But she was wrong in the manner in which she went about it. She devastated mining communities, economically and socially, without little, if any, consideration as to what industries could replace the mines. Her attitude was to leave it to the 'invisible hand', to market forces to sort out. A gross and abusive misinterpretation of Adam Smiths philosophy.
The unions were however on a losing battle, as the industry itself faced depletion. The unions would have been better to agitate for massive social and education programs for the communities to look to the future.
One good example of looking to the future was the LUAS dispute. Without going through all the detail, the infamous 50% pay claim was actually based on deferred pay rises (arising out of the uncertainty of economic downturn) dating back to 2008. The employer, it transpired, was broadly unaffected by the downturn as profits rose and productivity targets were continually met and exceeded. Not only that, the company had plans for increased recruitment as its services were to be expanded. The 50% was for pay increases over a ten year period from 2008 to 2018. In the end the settled at 18%. Or 1.8% a year for ten years.
In summary, I don't know why private sector workers don't join unions, other than I suspect, trade unionism is perceived a dirty term in many (powerful and influential) quarters in this country. In such circumstances, it can be a hard sell.