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Love the way you've got to reach back literally 36 years to find one example of union violence. The reputation that British unions actually have is for getting

Love the way you've got to reach back literally 36 years to find one example of union violence. The reputation that British unions actually have is for getting shat on by bullying employers.

chrisseaton 6y ago
I think it was a pretty watershed moment in union relations in the UK. It's what a lot of people think of when they think of unions in the UK. They're pretty unpopular here. I was explaining why a British person might call them goons.
- andybak 6y ago
  Brit here. Don't listen to this person. I'm mostly centrist/moderate left. None of this rings true. Typing on phone so excuse the brevity.
  - andybak 6y ago
    OK. At a keyboard now so I'll flesh this out a bit. In my experience people have a fairly balanced view of unions. There's pretty broad membership. In most places I've worked people join the union if there is one. Some unions where regarded negatively at some points in time but there's also general sympathy for some industrial action. It varies - blue collar workers tend to be more positive and white collar workers (especially in non-unionized fields) tend to be less. But this guy seems to be implying that that's wide-ranging hostility to unions in the UK - which I've never been aware of. There's a plurality of views as you would expect. I've known plenty of tory-voting union members so it's not even a strict right/left split.
- calcifer 6y ago
  > They're pretty unpopular here. I was explaining why a British person might call them goons. Yeah, no. We must be living in different countries. There are lots of large, powerful, popular British unions in a wide variety of industries.
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    Union membership in the UK has been going down long-term for four decades. It's halved since 1980 in fact. https://www.statista.com/statistics/287232/trade-union-density-united-kingdom-uk-y-on-y/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/287232/trade-union-densi... The Labour party have been ineffective for a decade and haven't been less popular since 1935. They're at their least popular when their leadership is more aligned to the unions. They were at the most recent popularity when they were furthest from the unions. They have just one representative now in Scotland, once a key area for unions. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/election-2019-50768605 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/election-2019-50768605 If you're a fan of unionisation in the UK then I'd say you have cause for concern.
missedthecue 6y ago
Pro union people reach back 136 years to find their evidence of violence so i don't see the issue
- adamsea 6y ago
  Yeah but those examples are like, large state-sponsored massacres. And there are lots of them. In the US, for example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre I mean it was actually part of a war (at least it’s called such) between companies / government and organized labor! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Coalfield_War https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Coalfield_War

Love the way you've got to reach back literally 36 years to find one example of union violence. The reputation that British unions actually have is for getting shat on by bullying employers.

chrisseaton 6y ago

I think it was a pretty watershed moment in union relations in the UK. It's what a lot of people think of when they think of unions in the UK. They're pretty unpopular here. I was explaining why a British person might call them goons.

andybak 6y ago
Brit here. Don't listen to this person. I'm mostly centrist/moderate left. None of this rings true. Typing on phone so excuse the brevity.
- andybak 6y ago
  OK. At a keyboard now so I'll flesh this out a bit. In my experience people have a fairly balanced view of unions. There's pretty broad membership. In most places I've worked people join the union if there is one. Some unions where regarded negatively at some points in time but there's also general sympathy for some industrial action. It varies - blue collar workers tend to be more positive and white collar workers (especially in non-unionized fields) tend to be less. But this guy seems to be implying that that's wide-ranging hostility to unions in the UK - which I've never been aware of. There's a plurality of views as you would expect. I've known plenty of tory-voting union members so it's not even a strict right/left split.
calcifer 6y ago
> They're pretty unpopular here. I was explaining why a British person might call them goons. Yeah, no. We must be living in different countries. There are lots of large, powerful, popular British unions in a wide variety of industries.
- chrisseaton 6y ago
  Union membership in the UK has been going down long-term for four decades. It's halved since 1980 in fact. https://www.statista.com/statistics/287232/trade-union-density-united-kingdom-uk-y-on-y/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/287232/trade-union-densi... The Labour party have been ineffective for a decade and haven't been less popular since 1935. They're at their least popular when their leadership is more aligned to the unions. They were at the most recent popularity when they were furthest from the unions. They have just one representative now in Scotland, once a key area for unions. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/election-2019-50768605 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/election-2019-50768605 If you're a fan of unionisation in the UK then I'd say you have cause for concern.

missedthecue 6y ago

Pro union people reach back 136 years to find their evidence of violence so i don't see the issue

adamsea 6y ago
Yeah but those examples are like, large state-sponsored massacres. And there are lots of them. In the US, for example: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre I mean it was actually part of a war (at least it’s called such) between companies / government and organized labor! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Coalfield_War https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado_Coalfield_War