Not certain what thatcher has to do with current affairs. Unfortunately I am in my sixties so am well versed in the the thatcher scargill years. Working in the construction industry at that time was certainly interesting and very rewarding. If I told you of some of stunts the unions pulled you wouldn’t believe me. The country was on the verge of merging into a banana republic until she came along.

If you're not anti-thatcher then you're wrong. Don't be bringing up facts...

The Sin Bin aka The Socialist Workwr

I have worked in the construction industry for 40 years. I could wax lyrical about the greed, rip-offs, deaths, injuries, corruption, illegal blacklisting, sackings, exploitation, moral turpitude due to the desire for excessive profit.

Dont forget planning !!

Seriously though, without the subjects mentioned in your post, there would be no need for any of the Unions.

You can add weekends off, holidays with pay, maternity/paternity pay, sick pay, end discrimination, child labour, training, minimum wage as well. All things the capitalist media told us would destroy UK industry & all things a big proportion would happily weaken.

I agree with all those points. Never the less all the major construction sites I worked on had a closed shop restriction. You had to be a union member to work onsite. The union stewards claimed to be followers of Marx, unfortunately they seemed more closely linked to Groucho Marx then Karl. I won’t bore everybody with the details of the restrictive practices we were working under. Just one example, on one site for several months I was paid over 80 hours for working just 44 hours. This was an incentive because the union stewards had decided every time we came out on strike we lost money. So the little scamps came up with the idea of working without enthusiasm. This resulted in low production levels from a previous low production level.
So the management paid us extra hours to increase production. A lot of my pals worked for councils and other government bodies. They were on strikes, go slows walkouts etc etc. We were the laughing stock of the world. Even more so when you looked at British leyland. Most posters won’t be familiar with that debacle. It’s a lesson as to the future if jezza comes to power.

Your entire post was valid, and reminds me of when I was working somewhere, I won't say where. The "refuse collectors" (bin men) went on strike and chained the gates shut, our offices were on there, so we got bolt cutters and opened them. Found out a few weeks later that the "refuse collectors" got paid whilst on strike, and then double pay for the weekend needed to make up lost time.

people rarely strike for a reason other than personal gain

Not much gets past you.
Have you been on strike in favour of austerity lately?

never been on strike in my life, I don't expect my employer to give me wage rises just because I try and hold them to ransome!

I take it that you've "benefited" from the strike action of others though ?

Strike action should only ever be as a last resort and despite the "workers getting paid whilst on strike and then getting double pay" story, it is usual to get nothing whilst on strike (and rightly so).
"Tigertot" gave a whole list of "benefits" that we all now receive, that just wouldnt have happened without the Unions and many of these would not have happened without some form of strike action.

Of course there is a balance in all of these situations and the most successful companies/employers treat their workforce properly and usually, this is to the benefit of all.

Just for the record, I too have never had to strike in 35 years of working but, I totally respect the right to take strike action as a last resort.