Union demands 27% hike in driver pay - to £54k

[Timelord]

I heard to get one of those lucrative tanker driving jobs - it comes down to who you know.. There are thousands of drivers out there who would be experienced enough to do it, but unless you happen to be in the right circles, then chances are low. It would be worth checking the facts behind these kind of rumours before launching into a new career and spending lots of readies on retraining. TL

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Also, I am this last few years forming the opinion that Unions are self appointed middlemen between the workers & management. They give workers the impression they are serving their interests and this absorbs the workers vitality which otherwise may have been directed straight at the management. Meanwhile they periodically stir the workers up against the management and use this to force negotiations under threat of strike. It then seems that often at the last minuite a strike is averted and a compromise deal is struck which sort of undermines the expectations of the workers. Ok a result is obtained, but it is usually pretty mediocre, whereas if the workers had rallied directly against the management, then a much better deal could have been obtained. The Union seem to do very nicely out of these arrangements and dare I say it, brown paper envelopes all round? It is just an opinion that is slowly forming over the last few years.
In fact I am starting to think that along with unions, many protest organisations may in fact be red herrings or stooge organisations for the very issues they are purporting to be protesting against. Their results are often inadequate and the willing members effort & ideology is diverted away from any other genuine protest possibilities. Not all organisations - there are many good ones, but I do think that maybe some out there are a cover for misdirecting individual citizens angst. ???