Get back to the office! But why?

Galaxy

I dont agree with that wild prediction, but I think many women would like to see lots of changes with regard to the GMB.

The GMB has been hit hard by the reduction and outsourcing of local authority jobs. With the GMB now having six hundred thousand members, there has been for some time talk of them merging into Unite.

However, I believe that there are many within Unite which are against such a merger on the grounds that the membership base would be too broad to be represented within one organisation.

I dont agree with that wild prediction, but I think many women would like to see lots of changes with regard to the GMB.

Elegran

Don't unions have phones, email accounts and internet access with advertising and marketing possibilities? If a business can keep in touch with workers in their own homes, surely unions can? The home-office workers can also contact their union online if they have any concerns about their working conditions - assuming that their union representatives have made themselves known to them and have been seen to be approachable.

The unions have used online recruitment for many years. However, still the major percentage of recruitment is carried out by activists in workplaces speaking to new employees and encouraging them to join especially when they perceive problems in their employment.

White-collar employees working from home will not affect Unite and some other large unions as they in the main represent manual workers.

However, the GMB could be destroyed by widespread home working and they are right-wing in their political views and very much supporters of Starmer in his troubled relationship with Unite and the Rail Unions.

The above will make the Labour Party ever more dependent on the large very left-wing unions for their funding and I am sure there are many who claim to be supporters of the Labour Party on this forum who would certainly not wish to see that.

One of the team starts tomorrow, but guess what we already have met and know her, all from home.

Grandad what are you talking about. No contact with other employees? It is Sunday, I am at home and somehow as if by magic I have been in contact with my team all day.

Grandad1943

growstuff

Good grief! Do unions operate in the nineteenth century or something?

In any case, it's not a very good argument for not working at home.

Another two line meaningless comment post which does not address the matter under debate whatsoever.

I was speechless at the irrelevance of your comment! I don't think you would have liked what I really wanted to write.

Grandad1943

growstuff

Good grief! Do unions operate in the nineteenth century or something?

In any case, it's not a very good argument for not working at home.

Another two line meaningless comment post which does not address the matter under debate whatsoever.

I was speechless at the irrelevance of your comment! I don't think you would have liked what I really wanted to write.

Don't unions have phones, email accounts and internet access with advertising and marketing possibilities? If a business can keep in touch with workers in their own homes, surely unions can? The home-office workers can also contact their union online if they have any concerns about their working conditions - assuming that their union representatives have made themselves known to them and have been seen to be approachable.

growstuff

Good grief! Do unions operate in the nineteenth century or something?

In any case, it's not a very good argument for not working at home.

Another two line meaningless comment post which does not address the matter under debate whatsoever.

Galaxy only you seem to believe that employees working in isolation from home are not far more vulnerable to unfair practice by their employers. Should a worker start their employment with a company working from home they will never be able to have any contact with other employees as they would not even be aware of who they were.

Total isolation is the result with their employers able to tell them whatever they wish and impose whatever conditions on any such employees by way of having full access to simple division within the workforce.

Back to the eighteenth century turns of employment with employers in total control, the outcome of which can be seen in India and a china today.

Also, Galaxy if you can inform the trade unions how they can recruit persons working from home I am sure they would be very pleased that you have a solution to a major problem for them.

At present recruitment is in the main by way of activists in the workplace having contact with the employees and encouraging them to join. An employee working from home is totally isolated and can be unknown to very many others in the workforce and the employer is under no obligation to inform anyone of those home workers job roles or even of their existence as employees.

It should also be remembered that the weaker those trade unions become the weaker the Labour Party becomes both financially and in turns of the material support they receive from those unions.

But perhaps all the above is what you wish to see Galaxy.

Good grief! Do unions operate in the nineteenth century or something?

In any case, it's not a very good argument for not working at home.

People are telling you that they are not more vulnerable at home, or dont the experience of the workers matter? I am much more vulnerable in my office than working from home. If the unions are unable to think of ways to access workers who are at home well I dont even know how to deal with that lack of initiative.

Whitewavemark2

I see the unions are saying that the government is behind the times and that wfh is the way forward.

Whitewavemark2 can you provide a link to who in the trade union movement made the above statement.

I can think of no quicker way to destroy the unions that represent white-collar workers than to have large numbers of employees working from home.

In the above, how can such workers be recruited into a union when workplace activists can gain no access to those employees. Indeed those activists may not even be aware that such employees even exist.

Employees working from home are isolated and vulnerable to unfair action by their employer and not covered by much of the employment legislation that is in existence for employees in designated workplaces.

And there are those on this forum who claim to be Labour Party/ movement supporters who wish to see that home-based working and employee vulnerability extended.

Apologies my above post was meant to be linked to AGAA4 post @15:04 today.

And how would the former chief of the Civil Service be aware of what is happening in private commercial industry at this point in time when it comes to employees working from home???????

Many of us are aware from our own experiences that local council employees working from home are providing little or no service whatsoever to their council taxpayers. Just try ringing one of their service lines.

I see the unions are saying that the government is behind the times and that wfh is the way forward.

Dinahmo

Elegran and Galaxy I totally agree with you. Sadly this govt doesn't get it. They are starting to demonize those people who are working from home.

I guess it makes a change from teachers.

Grandad re. your post 5/9 @18.10. The former chief of the Civil Service on BBC news this morning doesn't need to be convinced that staff wfm are doing a good job. He knows they are. He thinks it is irresponsible to try to to get everyone back to the office when those working from home are delivering an excellent service.
Coffee shops etc in city centres will lose out but those wfh are shopping in their local areas and supporting those businesses.

Elegran and Galaxy I totally agree with you. Sadly this govt doesn't get it. They are starting to demonize those people who are working from home.

I wonder if they will suffer anyway, habits change, I am back in the office for parts of the week, I dont use any of the cafes shops that I used to. I realised during home working that I was eating better than anything I could get in Starbucks etc, well actually I realised that most of what is on offer is awful, and I have saved a fortune. The only services benefitting from me being back in the office part time are those flogging petrol.

And if you do go back, your local businesses will suffer because they are not supplying you with packets of teabags and snacks.

It isn't either/or - it doesn't have to be every office worker in an office or every office worker in their own home. It is places for cases.

Duncan Raab on Andrew Marr this morning said it was essential for people to get back to work in order for the economy to recover. And if you don't go back then the peripheral businesses will suffer.

Exactly Galaxy! Companies who think jobs could be outsourced have already thought about it and, in some cases, already done it. They didn't need Covid as a catalyst. Conversely, they might see working from home as an alternative to outsourcing.

In what way does where you sit affect whether your job will be outsourced. People in offices could have their job outsourced.

If I were the owner of an office block in London, currently let out to one company, I might be planning for a better use of my building more suited to the 21st century.

Possibly I could let my building to five companies instead of one. Each company could have one small office for five days a week where they would keep confidential material.

The rest of the building would be let on the basis of one day a week occupancy where companies could bring in staff occasionally. The rest of the time their staff would be working from home.The companies who rented office accomodation on this basis would make considerable savings.

The other building owners who did not adapt may have to convert their buildings to other purposes - for instance to accommodation, bringing life back to the redundant city office areas.