Howitzer
This work to rule - not answering phones / covering for other people - has nothing to do with enacting change. It's about making the union members FEEL as if they are doing something to enact change.
I agree unions have to be seen to be doing something because a strong messgae went back to the unions that srtike action wasn't a runner.
The Unions have been rendered impotent by their failure to maintain strike funds and their members failure to withstand a period - or even a day - without pay.
I agree. However, strike funds have always very little so a strike fund would have been of little use to me. My pay has been cut by €100 a week since this time last year and while I could manage a day here, not a hope on an ongoing basis.
My company does a lot of work with the Public Sector and our experience with regards to the taking of phone calls has not been all that different to before this action. A number of my colleagues would be on site within the PS and confusion and mixed messages abound. But if it wasn't this it'd be something else. The overall level of productivity, from our perspective, is unchanged. However the members feel like they're doing something, and that's the main thing.
It's hard to generalise here. There has been no change to output in my section. However, from next week we are not dealing with any FOI for example. Now I get maybe 4 a year so there will be no significant change here but other sections would have 3 or 4 a week.