Workplace Survival Kit

Workplace Survival Guide
1. Join a union. Ask around and see if your colleagues are mainly in one union. Consider joining and becoming a "dual card carrying" member of the IWW as well. If there are various or no unions in your workplace consider contacting the IWW. Try recruiting your colleagues too.
2. Get involved with your union! Just like a gym, you get a lot more out by being active, and a strong union is more likely to be a successful union.
3. Get others to join your union(s) and get them active too.
4. Ask questions. Anyone can make mistakes, including managers. If it doesn't sound right, it might not be. Check it out.
5. Check your payslip. Mistakes can be made, but there are always those that will try to rip you off!
6. Like the Clash said, "Know your rights!" The minimum wage in the UK is currently £3.53 p/h if you are 16-18, £4.77 if you are 18-21 and £5.73 if you are 22 plus. (Why is it lower for younger workers? A tin of beans doesn't cost less when you are 17!) The minimum wage is there for everyone.
7. Don't suffer in silence! If you have problems, get help from your union. That is one of the reasons they are there.
8. Bullying - e.g. on the grounds of race, gender, sexual orientation - is illegal.
9. Check the policies of your employer. You wouldn't bet your money on poker if you didn't know the rules. Why bet your wages when you don't know the rules? Your union will help.
10. It bears repeating - join a union, get involved, and get others to join!