Union membership lapsed

seekingthetruth

Hi folks,
My union membership has lapsed (I dont want to say which union) and with upcoming industrial action I am unsure whether to renew it or not.....
I cant really afford to lose anymore and am disillusioned with the whole continuing industrial action on and off but would also be worried for my future too - Can you advise?
Thanks

spurious

As a previous Treasurer of a large branch of TUI, if people were lapsed longer than a year, they usually got back in by paying one year's membership. They may have changed policies since.

seekingthetruth

Im in arrears a few months and am wondering whether to go back or pull out altogether....

spurious

I suppose whether you go back or not is a risk you take regarding never needing their help. If you are only a few months out of benefit you would pay the few months in TUI. Can't speak for ASTI but presume similar arrangements.

seekingthetruth

Ok thanks Spurious - I would be concerned for the future and people have been asking me what union I am in etc, I find it very personal tbh - am I required to tell people whether I am in a union etc? I know unofficially they will know but lets say the principal comes to me and asks me about my union status? Is it ok to say im not comfortable discussing it or am I required to inform them (personally I dont mind talking to them as people but in a professional capacity and the roles we both have I would be worried)

spurious

No business whatsoever of the Principal. Can't think of any reason why he/she would need to know.

Response 'Oh go 'way, next you'll be asking about my bank balance!' har de har, but none of their business.

No reason they would know. You could be paying your subs directly (as many do) and not on DAS.

seekingthetruth

Thank you! I feel uncomfortable when people ask me and the vice principal passed some fishing comment to me before but I think he just wanted someone to take over as representative and that's what it turned out to be.

What's the DAS ??

amen

seekingthetruth wrote: »

Thank you! I feel uncomfortable when people ask me and the vice principal passed some fishing comment to me before but I think he just wanted someone to take over as representative and that's what it turned out to be.

What's the DAS ??

The VP wanted you to take over as union rep ? The union members in your school should be voting to nominate their rep not the school management.

SligoBrewer

The principal cannot ask if you're in the union or not. They've no right to know.

----

Join the union, pay your subs and stop contributing the erosion of working conditions with laissez-faire attitudes.
People fought for your pension, salary, conditions.
You need to continue to fight, and the erosion of conditions imposed on us since 2009 is directly affecting every staff member today.
I'm down 30k because of weak unions and a strong Government. You might be an LPT too.

seekingthetruth

Tbh I think the VP just wanted to know if anyone was interested but both I and another colleague felt uncomfortable being asked our union status (as an aside note I find it very helpful to be able to post here and that its anonymous as I didnt know who to ask these questions to in confidence so thanks for replying! )

spurious

seekingthetruth wrote: »

What's the DAS ??

Deduction at source. It means the sub is taken out of your payslip. It's one option for paying the sub.

Random sample

Would the principal have been trying to figure out slars? Or numbers during a strike day?

If it’s tui, I wouldn’t let membership lapse. They will charge for intervening years if you ever need to join again.

doc_17

I think your dilemma is that you might end up up spending money that you may be in a position to spend and never really needing the Union? That’s a choice all teachers have and the overwhelming majority (>90%??) have made that choice. I’ve never had recourse to the Union and hope I never will. I’m not loaded but I’ll always pay my subs as my job is better than it would otherwise be with out a Union to take on the powers that be.

Just think about this.....Without a Union YOU would be marking your students’ work for State Certification.

seekingthetruth

spurious wrote: »

No business whatsoever of the Principal. Can't think of any reason why he/she would need to know.

Response 'Oh go 'way, next you'll be asking about my bank balance!' har de har, but none of their business.

No reason they would know. You could be paying your subs directly (as many do) and not on DAS.

That's a great response to have in the back of the mind for that question, thanks!!

deiseindublin

seekingthetruth wrote: »

I cant really afford to lose anymore.....

Genuine question, you can't afford to lose the monthly sub, or you can't afford to lose money if striking?

It may be the case that the principal can't ask you what union you are in, if any, but surely they need to know with ASTI/SLARs and TUI/full days strike.

On a personal level I think that unless one has some huge objection to the concept of unions, I feel you are better off being in that being out. It's not fair for my colleagues to be fighting for my pay and conditions if I'm not willing to myself.

seekingthetruth

Hi deiseindublin, thanks for your question - I completely agree with you but am struggling to make ends meet as it is, between subscription fees over a year plus strike days and paying everything (all the insurances I need between car, house, health, all the taxes etc) I find myself not really being able to save - I dont go on holidays and I dont drink or socialise and I still have zip and am struggling with coping as well.... I don't wish to go into it further ok but from reading peoples replies I do agree that we need to stick together so am really looking at sorting the arrears - I honestly wish the unions would come to agreement and strike together for a long enough period to sort all the problems out, the public can see the problems in the profession and quite alot of families have at least one teacher in them (be it cousin or in law at the outmost conneciton)

Bobtheman

Quit the union and stand on the sidelines. Then in 10 years or less the job will be pure ****. Lots of paperwork. Further erosion of academic standards
I will be retired by then so I personally won't care
The union is the only brake on this. It wont stop it all but certainly prevent a lot of it

Bobtheman

seekingthetruth wrote: »

Hi deiseindublin, thanks for your question - I completely agree with you but am struggling to make ends meet as it is, between subscription fees over a year plus strike days and paying everything (all the insurances I need between car, house, health, all the taxes etc) I find myself not really being able to save - I dont go on holidays and I dont drink or socialise and I still have zip and am struggling with coping as well.... I don't wish to go into it further ok but from reading peoples replies I do agree that we need to stick together so am really looking at sorting the arrears - I honestly wish the unions would come to agreement and strike together for a long enough period to sort all the problems out, the public can see the problems in the profession and quite alot of families have at least one teacher in them (be it cousin or in law at the outmost conneciton)

Do grinds . Find something. Union membership will hardly buy you a holiday.

Bobtheman

Btw I am too disillusioned by the Asti membership but inclined to stick to Principles by supporting colleagues

seekingthetruth

I wish both unions would strike together and stay out long enough to get a final resolution to the pay issue, it is a pure divide and conquer tactic at this stage for government and also the unions that talking to each other about the issue and agreeing together is adding this divide and conquer approach, then and only then can we make progress on the issues with the changes to education
Saw on the news the other night where one school has removed ipads altogether and gone back to books, was delighted.
Like I said I am more of the opinion of sorting the lapse and staying together now.

Bobtheman

seekingthetruth wrote: »

I wish both unions would strike together and stay out long enough to get a final resolution to the pay issue, it is a pure divide and conquer tactic at this stage for government and also the unions that talking to each other about the issue and agreeing together is adding this divide and conquer approach, then and only then can we make progress on the issues with the changes to education
Saw on the news the other night where one school has removed ipads altogether and gone back to books, was delighted.
Like I said I am more of the opinion of sorting the lapse and staying together now.

In terms of pure uselessness you have in order

The INTO
TUI
Asti
The problem is getting members out for a few weeks.
For that to occur the strike must be time limited
Whatever chance the Asti have of going out you won't see the other two
Young members roo busy watching Netflix or tinder. We all had SFA in our 20s. A holiday? Not until my mid 30s.
Things won't improve until they find their spines

acequion

seekingthetruth wrote: »

I honestly wish the unions would come to agreement and strike together for a long enough period to sort all the problems out,

Completely agree!! The single biggest obstacle, imo, to making any real progress is the conflict between ASTI and TUI. Yet all the while teachers on the ground are struggling to survive. It's so frustrating.:mad:

And I wouldn't necessarily agree that we all had it bad in our 20's. While, obviously it took time to get on our feet,like in any career, back in the day loads of young and very often, single teachers were quickly able to get a deposit on a house, a pipe dream for most of today's young teachers as you've pointed out in your posts,OP.

Get back into your union, get involved, go to convention, get up to speak at the podium! It's people like you the country need to hear on RTE news at Easter time. And I disagree that the public realise what it's like. Many don't and many still have this ignorant idea that teaching is a well paid piece of cake. Pure ignorance but this is the kind of rubbish that fills media. Only by sticking together and by fighting can we force change.

Renew your membership tomorrow!