Frequently Asked Questions When deciding whether to join the PDA Union these answers to some
frequently asked question should help you to make up your mind.
What if PDA members don’t want to be in a union?We know that members must always be given a choice and will respect the decision of those who prefer not to take advantage of PDA’s union status. We provide members with the option to stay exactly as they are – as full PDA members enjoying all of their current, wide-ranging benefits. What does Union membership cost?The insurance underwriters recognise that the risks of employment disputes for ‘union’ members are lower. As a result, they have agreed to reduce the insurance premiums for these members; in turn, we have allocated this reduction to pay the union fees. Consequently, there will be no increase in overall PDA membership fees for those members who choose the union option. (This applies to the costs of Full PDA membership only). If you have ‘Standard Membership status, you will either need to upgrade to Full Membership, or pay an annual Union membership fee. In future membership will be open to non PDA members for an annual membership fee. Will the Union be affiliated to the TUC?Only Independent Trades Unions can apply for affiliation to the TUC; even then an application may not be accepted. A Union will need to be listed by the Union Certification officer for a minimum of a year before it can apply for Independent Union status. There may be advantages to affiliation in future for the purposes of lobbying and receipt of grants and funding for relevant projects. The PDA Union will be an evolving body an application for TUC affiliation can be considered by the membership at the appropriate time. Can I expect that the normal service that I have come to rely upon from the PDA will continue?The intention is that the PDA will continue to act both reactively and pro-actively to support the individual pharmacists’ agenda, as it has always done in the past. However, we at the PDA believe that union status will enable the Association to provide an even wider range of benefits for members. Some of the discretionary activity that PDA currently provides (e.g. not underwritten by insurance such as legal support at certain stages of employment disputes and locum contract disputes) when undertaken by the Union (under union legislation), will be able to be done far more robustly. What if my employer finds out that I am a union member?It would be illegal for your employer to take action or discriminate against you in any way if he learns that you are a union member. The penalties to an employer for such discrimination are significant. Will the PDA union be able to represent collectively the concerns of me and my colleagues to our employer without specifically naming those who are concerned?If sufficient employees from your employing organisation join the PDA union, the employer is legally required to allow the PDA union consultation and negotiating rights. What if I am already a member of another union?There is nothing to stop you from being a member of more than one union. However, we expect that most members will consider which union is able to provide the widest benefits for them When considering your options, you may wish to think about which union has the greatest knowledge about pharmacy matters and whether it has full-time office based pharmacist staff employed by the union and always available to members. You may also wish to consider as to how successful other unions have been in taking on employers in the past and whether they have managed to secure several hundreds of thousands of pounds in compensation on behalf of its members from employers who have treated their members harshly or illegally – as this is certainly a key achievement of the PDA to date. There is no doubt that if all current PDA members were to join the PDA union, then it would be by far the largest solely pharmacist union in the UK and because of that, it would be very influential indeed. How can I be sure that the elected representatives are nothing more than senior employees (de facto employers) who will toe the employers’ line?Some pharmacist unions are indeed run by senior employees. However, the PDA membership is almost exclusively made up of non-employer and locum pharmacists. Because of this, it is felt that the likelihood of this problem occurring is remote. Nevertheless, when electing PDA union officials, PDA union members will have to cast their votes wisely. Will you represent me at any or all disciplinary or grievance hearings?While the PDA Union will generally do all it can to help a member in genuine difficulties at work - that's what we are there for after all – It will never be possible to attend every single disciplinary meeting as a companion for members. The law is realistic and practical and recognises this point. The key point to consider is that the sending of a companion will become important, if a PDA member faces a very serious, job or career threatening situation. Clearly, a member who is to be disciplined for lateness is unlikely to need the support of a PDA officer at such a meeting; a member who has been suspended because of suspected theft or other alleged serious impropriety will do. Equally, there will be those situations where, depending on the seriousness or stage of the process at which we are involved we may decide that telephone advice, coaching of an employee companion or support in the preparation of written submissions will be more appropriate. If we decide a trained Union companion is required we will generally judge whether he or she should be a local voluntary union rep, or a full time officer of the union if it is a more serious matter. One other point to consider (and this has important insurance underwriting implications); although we will never turn away a pharmacist in difficulty we will need to exercise discretion as to whether or not we can provide free representation for members if they have been in union membership for less than three months. This requirement may be considered necessary to prevent people joining a union suddenly when they are in trouble, getting free advice and assistance, then leaving, at considerable expense to the PDA and at the disadvantage of its broader membership. In prioritising our resources we would sometimes make a judgement about whether a grievance or disciplinary is well-founded and likely to succeed before agreeing to represent someone. However we would provide assistance by way of advice on mitigation There is no obligation on a workplace colleague to act as a companion either. However, if they do, and your employer makes life difficult for them as a result, they can seek redress at an Employment Tribunal. If they are dismissed as a result of accompanying you they can claim unfair dismissal regardless of how long they have worked for your employer. If I chose to stand for election to the executive of the PDA Union, how much of my time would this take?The job of General Secretary and Assistant General Secretary are full time posts. The rest of the Executive committee posts would probably be undertaken on a part-time basis. Membership of the Management Group would be a much more unpredicable affair. Generally, Management Group committee members would be employed in their relevent sector and would undertake any PDA activities on an occasional basis. The amount of time they would devote would depend on what extent they were keen to get involved. For example, they may want to write a newsletter or even to organise meetings/conferences for members. The Management Group representative would be expected to manage his/her committee and also to attend National Executive meetings which woulc usually occur at least three times a year. I am a self-employed locum - how will union membership benefit me?There are many ways in which a PDA Union will be able to benefit self employed locums, for example;
These benefits are just a start - many more may be possible, but this will largely depend on the quality of the individuals elected to the locum management group. |
   
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