Restaurant union poses tricky question
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Credit to the Hotel and Restaurant Union for allowing visitors to express an opinion on one of its hot button issues in an online poll.
The wording of the question is a bit tricky mind you.
Do you think that an employer should not be required to follow a collective bargaining agreement??
See! Had to think about it, didn’t you?
At the time of writing 55 per cent of respondents had said yes. It’s not known what percentage of those understood the question.
December 16th, 2006 at 2:00 pm
I’ll bet that if it had said “Do you think that an employer should be required to follow a collective bargaining agreement?” you’d have had the same percentages.
December 19th, 2006 at 5:04 pm
It is absolutely correct that an employer should not have to follow a collective bargaining agreement. The Swedish model of collective bargaining has been exposed for what it really is – the unions have the upper-hand every time and the previous socialist governments have unashamedly handed over the responsibility for labour relations to them. Wild n Fresh and the Smålandsstenar conflicts are classic examples of the unequal and unfair balance of power that exists. It is urgent that we get legislation to redress this and give small businesses a chance to develop and expand without the fear of these intimidation (mafia) methods that the unions have practiced to a fine art. I write as a small business-owner and am totally appalled at the situation that we have today in the labour market.
What do your readers say?
December 19th, 2006 at 11:24 pm
I agree. Take a look at who the big supporters of technical unions are in Sweden. They work hand in hand with technical contract employment companies, which actually stand between the worker and the job, taking as much as 50% of the possible salary. The technical unions like CF or SIF just turn a blind eye. Technical workers like engineers and programmers are some of the lowest paid in Europe, yet the unions do nothing to stop the exploitation.