Did you hear about the wine expert targeted by his boss for not favouring natural wines?   Or the bank clerk whose liquid lunches caused standards to slip? What became of Quality Assurance work that endangered employees?  Hear how a legacy of beer at work was overtaken by automation, but not without many bumps, literally,  in employee relations along the way.  And how one company scrapped their subsidised canteen to save money but ended up losing far more than they gained.  My thanks to Fullers' Georgina Wald, and former head brewer John Keeling, and Asahi's Jason Goodwin Murphy for sharing brewery history with me - all embellishments are mine, not theirs - and to those others who contributed to the creation of this episode - you know who you are! Any relation to real people, alive or dead, or any place, is purely co-incidental.  Produced by Makes You Think. Music by Scott Holmes. There is advice on problem drinking and what to do about it from Drinkaware.

In the latest Union Days we take a look back to the heyday of union conferences.  Before the internet and digital technology.  Before the pandemic. Before, too, inclusivity was viewed as an integral prerequisite for effective representation and decision-making. What has changed since those halcyon days and what still needs to?

Enter the magic world of union conferences, meet the heroes and villains with their horse-trading and chutzpah and decide for yourself if it's a case of "we can't go on meeting like this." ?

The secret art of negotiation is blown open in the latest UnionDays.  Why is it an art and not a science?  Is it worse to “get into bed’ with the employer or to “sell the jerseys”?  Who makes it into the top drawer of negotiators and what makes some people so darn good?

But who are the archetype villains who just say No – and why did I crash and burn when I used the same approach?

When negotiations fail, why is striking sometimes the only option left? Why will the government’s latest anti-strike bill have all the soothing quality of paraffin on a bonfire?  And in the end, does the so-called secret art always boil down to a question of power?

Listen and decide for yourself! 

In the final episode of the series,  we can’t avoid the role sex plays in misconduct at work.  Why do so many men think looking at porn in works time on work equipment is ok?  (Were they searching for tractors?) What did the telephone engineer say to the sex worker who couldn’t get a dialling tone? Are there some cases – both linked to pornography and not -  that are so extreme, the member forfeits the right to be represented? And why we can fairly point the finger of blame at government for the hostile environment in which many workers suffer?

A Makes-You-Think production. Music by Scott Holmes. Companion blog here. Some names and other details have been changed. Got a story for the scrapbook? Tell us at [email protected]

Casework is a large part of any union rep’s life.  We meet the unfortunate and the miscreant.  Hear about the devastating impact conduct cases can have on employees and their families, how Stan’s love of vines nearly cost him his job, and why disclosure of confidential information is easier to allege than prove – and above all why a learning culture is so important in minimising the destructive fall-out from high profile cases.

A Makes-You-Think production. Music by Scott Holmes. Companion blog here. Some names and other details have been changed. Got a story for the scrapbook? Tell us at [email protected]

Sheffield becomes the epicentre as the union tries to go green. Were we ahead of the curve and how could we match the good intentions with worthwhile deeds?  How we came to love COEDS (Control of Environmentally Damaging Substances).  Why new ways of working  make “elf  n’ safey” even more important and immediate.

A Makes-You-Think production. Music by Scott Holmes. Companion blog here. Some names and other details have been changed. Got a story for the scrapbook? Tell us at [email protected]

Into the 1990s and beyond.  Demystifying Union Safety Reps, and how I broke the stereotype armed with just a white sliced loaf of bread.  Why  “elf n’ safey” isn’t just about bogs, basins and boring stuff. How we pushed back on a grand outsourcing plan so ill-conceived it nearly triggered a strike ballot amongst 100,000 employees - and the strange connection with Jermaine Defoe’s goal against Slovenia.

A Makes-You-Think production. Music by Scott Holmes. Companion blog here. Some names and other details have been changed. Got a story for the scrapbook? Tell us at [email protected]

Episode 3.  Into the 1990s. I’ve been with the National Communications Union for about a year and have been given responsibility for health and safety. We dive straight into the ground-breaking case that outlawed ruinous computer working practices (which saw employees literally crippled whilst employers ignored or dismissed the warning signs), the media scrum that followed the court case, how the EU was a force for good, and a revolution in making this work safer. 

A Makes-You-Think production. Music by Scott Holmes. Companion blog here. Some names and other details have been changed. Got a story for the scrapbook? Tell us at [email protected]

The late 1980s, and I’m working for the specialist civil servants’ union.  Hear why one employer thought jury service didn’t apply to their staff, how another sacked someone for being on maternity leave, and why a third was given a “take it or leave it” ultimatum by their employees.  Hear too about a change in my responsibilities that brought me face-to-face with spooks, so-called weapons of doom and, albeit indirectly, the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

A Makes-You-Think production. Music by Scott Holmes. Companion blog here. Some names and other details have been changed. Got a story for the scrapbook? Tell us at [email protected]

It’s 1986. Margaret Thatcher is prime minister.  Madonna, the Communards and Nick Berry jostle for the No 1 single. I’m working for the specialist civil servants’ union.  In this episode we travel from Glasgow’s abattoir to Kew Gardens,  via agricultural shows and the Government Communications Headquarters, travelling the length and breadth of the UK, and getting a behind-the-scenes look at some of Britain’s quintessential institutions.  As well as meeting characters who are both charming and bewitching, we answer two key questions – (1) does the water run blood red when abattoirs are hosed down?  And (2) can you be a good union member and a loyal patriot too ?

A Makes-You-Think production. Music by Scott Holmes. Companion blog here. Some names and other details have been changed. Got a story for the scrapbook? Tell us at [email protected]