Oral Blog Entry-A Diploma Lecture 1 ( Week six: Unions)

I want to write about the lecture of week six which was called "Unions in New Zealand". Sarah Hardman was the lecturer and chairperson of the ASTE (Association of Staff Tertiary Education). This Union has about 4000 members in New Zealand.
She told us about the general facts of unions and and explained what a union stands for furthermore she informed us about the many benefits of a membership at unions.
There are about 2 000 000 workers in New Zealand but only 330 000 of them are in a union. The number of memberships decreased after 1990 when a new law against unions was established. This law was changed again at 2000 and the numbers increase slowly but they are still not as high as they were used to be.
Sarah told us that every worker should join a union. Gathered people are stronger then a single person. In addition, unions commit for a fair work-life balance. This refers to a man called Samuel Parnell who worked as a carpenter in the 1840s. He refused to work every day for 12 hours and so he was the first person in New Zealand who fought for the right to work not longer than 8 hours so that he would have another 8 hours for recreation and finally 8 hours for sleep. Unions are also fighting for fair pay, sick pay and safety at workplaces. Unions are the voice for working people and in most cases the only chance to influence the employer. But strikes can not be risen from one day to another by a single worker there has to be a collctive agreement before in order to avoid disposal. The leaders are also ellected.
I enjoyed the lecture and heard many new facts about unions and the importance of joining them to safe my rights as an employee.