Community Union Reviews 126

My monthly membership is easily the best investment I’ve made - I am so grateful for Community's support. The people are responsive, knowledgeable, supportive, and always easy to reach. It’s reassuring to know I have such reliable help on standby.

I would like to thank Darren for his support through a difficult time. I'm so glad I joined the Communtiy Union as without Darren's support yesterday I don't think I would have gained the outcome I wanted. Darren listened to everything I had to say and was non judgemental and very supportive thankyou Darren!

Paul Thomas was incredibly helpful, very knowledgeable and supportive. I would recommend him to anyone who needed support from the union.

Paul was an amazing rep. He supported me through a difficult time at work and through his knowledge and understanding secured a positive outcome.

I just like to say a big thank you to Darren
I was very nervous while having my grievance meeting with my employer
But also felt at ease while my union rep was there
I felt positive and also felt I had control
While having my meeting.
Thankyou again I couldn’t of done it without you

I want to thank both Rohan and Paul for the incredible support they gave me during a very serious and overwhelming situation at work.

Paul was the first person I contacted, and he listened without judgment, reassured me when I was anxious, and guided me through everything with real care and patience. He was always available, made sure my wellbeing was looked after, and even provided me with the EAP details so I had proper emotional support. His kindness and calm approach genuinely helped me mentally through a very difficult time.

Rohan then supported me through the meeting process and was truly exceptional. He helped me stay calm, explained everything clearly, and represented me with confidence and professionalism. He consistently checked in on my wellbeing and made sure I felt supported and prepared throughout the whole process. His guidance made an extremely stressful situation feel far more manageable.

Both Paul and Rohan went above and beyond, and I’m extremely thankful for everything they did.

I would like to thank Paul Thomas for all his help and guidance in helping me in negotiations with the AA to be able to retire under a medical condition.He kept me informed from start to finish.

I have been trying to relocate my work for years as was waiting for someone to leave company. Then this year it was given to me as someone left that area. Only to be taken away and no to move with 2 weeks to go till transfer.
Been in union for years on advise of my dad never used them. Until now so contacted Paul Thomas of community union.He listened to every thing I said. He said he can help me.
Well all I can say is thank you so much for your help Paul Thomas.
Transfer all done.
Would never have happened with out you.
Thank you
Jon

I recently had an disciplinary issue at work and my Union rep Paul Thomas, helped me immensely. I can't praise him enough. He helped with advice and came to
my meeting where he identified and pointed out actions by my management, that got me a result of no case to answer. Without his skills and foresight I don't think I would have had the outcome I did.

I recently went through a life changing event and suffered with my mental health, consequently I needed help to stay in my job.
Paul Thomas my union representative, offered me support, understanding and guidance. It’s been a scary time, but I’m pleased to say, I still have my Job, I have felt supported at all my meetings and know I can call Paul Thomas anytime, he’s a Mental health first Aider as well as a very competent, confident, professional.
I was so pleased that I have been a member of Community union, I had to be guided, and I followed, I don’t believe I would still have a Job, if it wasn’t for the help of Community union and Paul Thomas.
Being a union member is something you forget about until you need to use it, I can’t tell people enough how important it is to join Community union, join today.

Joined as I told a union is there to support you in the workplace unfortunately I didn’t have this experience. Slow to respond basic advice and nothing really constructive looking back. To be informed that it’s too late to log anything with ACAS taking into account my experience so they will not support me due to insufficient information is a let down and feel I’ve wasted my time and money to be lead on useless advice. Go to a union that’s well known, I’m sorry I didn’t now.
At no point previously was I advised to log a claim while within the time when I was advised it was discriminatory. Advising that it is outside this so nothing can now be actioned is useless and mid advising Thanks for the pointless response

I was recently represented by my union rep Darren Pigott who represented me perfectly not only was he easy to talk to , patient , understanding, informative and knowledgeable he also mentioned points in my work meeting that none of knew of !

Darren met me at the site prior to the meeting and covered our talking points beforehand. He was supportive and helpful considering the circumstances of him being my 2nd rep having come in at a later stage without full context of previous meetings. He did the best of his ability, however for future reference it would be most ideal to keep the same rep.

I cant thank Darren enough for his help throughout my issue with work. It was such a stressful time and darren was on hand by email or telephone when ever i needed support. He joined me on my team’s meeting and i strongly believe without his support i wouldn't have got the outcome i wanted. Knowing i had someone in my corner that knew employment law put me at ease. I would recommend anyone to community union. Thanks again Darren for all your help and support.

At Community there are 2 fantastic amazing union reps,Deena and Kate both are very knowledgeable and determined to get the right results for union members.

I had an excellent experience with Community Union, supported by Mavis Kwesi and Fahima Mohidin. Both were incredibly professional, patient, and reassuring throughout the entire process. They consistently acted on my behalf, ensured I received a fair outcome, and made me feel supported every step of the way.

Their caring approach and clear communication made a difficult situation much easier to navigate. I’m truly grateful for their help and highly recommend their service.

Many thanks to Deena Doyle Community Rep who Supported me through my Issues I’ve had at work,Deena goes above & beyond for all who she represents with Outstanding Results ❤️

My name is Frederick Adesanoye and i work with SERCO. To be honest, i joined the Community Union skeptically because i had had a not too good experience with the GMU years back when i was working at G4S.
After about 3 years plus with SERCO, an incident occured between my manager and i which led to my unjust suspension, and subsequently, my dismissal from work. During the investigations that led to my dismissal i was accompanied by a Community rep by the name Deena Doyle. I had not met her in my entire life nor was she specifically recommended to me by anybody. I just picked her name from the couple of names sent to me by a colleague at work when i was looking for a rep to represent me for the investigations that led to my suspension/dismissal. Deena and i got on very well from the onset and after reviewing my case, she concluded that my case was worth fighting for. She did not only pick holes in the investigations, she picked gulleys! Her contributions to my defence were top notch and despite her efforts i was still dismissed! Despite this, Deena did not give up. She insisted i appeal my dismissal based on some technicalites of which i did not take too seriously and it was based on this that my dismissal was overturned and i was recalled back to work. I cannot thank Deena enough for her expertise and guidance throughout my ordeal. I strongly believe she was God-sent! She was checking up on me from time to time while i was on suspension and was always assuring me thet everything will be ok even when i had doubts.
On my first day at work after all the "drama", to my utmost surprise and disbelief, Deena checked up on me to see how i was doing. This lady is just amazing!!!

My family member has been a Community Union member for over 7 years now. Initially she was happy with the support she received from the Union, however this had changed in the last few years. 3 times the Union supported her in making Employment Tribunal claims against her former employer. 3 times the Union withdrew their support or threatened to withdraw it if she didn't agree to settle her cases via settlement agreement. The Union even signed on her behalf a Settlement agreement which didn't protect her rights, but only those on her former employer. Which employer then breached the settlement agreement, but was difficult to be held to account because the Union failed to protect my family members rights and signed a settlement agreement which was protecting only the other side's rights.

Complaint was submitted by my family member against the Head of Legal of Community Union, who appeared to be looking for various reasons just to withdraw the Union's support (and eventually did) towards her.

Subject access request was submitted to Community Union asking for all the data the Union held on their system about my family member. Initially this was rejected by the Head of Legal claiming the request was not valid, but it was later on progressed (after a few months wait). Upon receipt, we discovered from the email correspondence that her complaint against the Head of Legal was initially looked at by the Assistant General Secretary, who asked the Head of Legal to submit a report in respect of the complaint made against him and based on the information in this report (and not on own investigation), the Assistant GS sent an outcome letter to my family member with his findings. No independent investigation carried out, just "findings" based on the Head of Legal version of events.

The same complaint against the Head of Legal was then escalated to the General Secretary, who (allegedly) sent a couple of letters/ emails to my family member. When we received the SAR response (copy of all the data the Union had on file about my family member), we discovered an email exchange in which the General Secretary was asking the Head of Legal to draft a complaint response on his behalf in respect of the Complaint my family member submitted against the Head of Legal! Then The Head of Legal drafted a response to the Complaint made against him and then this response was sent to my family member claiming to be sent on behalf of the General Secretary. The General secretary who claimed they take every complaint made against the Union very seriously and will investigate promptly, was the same person who wasn't bothered to deal with the Complaint brought to his attention! Eventually the complaint against the Head of Legal brought to GS attention, was dealt with and responded by the Head of Legal. The subject of the complaint was the same person who responded to the Complaint made against him!

We only found out about this once we received a copy of the data the Union held about my family member, which included copies of emails various Community Union member exchanged about her.

Speaking about personal data, for any reason CU sent us loads of personal data in respect of other Union members too. This data revealed that othe Union members also complained against the Head of Legal and also allegedly received responses to their Complaints by the General Secretary. Which responses were again drafted not by the General secretary himself, but the subject of the Complaint- the Head of Legal. So it looks like you won't get anywhere with your complaints as even if you complain against the Head of Legal, it will be him responding to your complaint.

Also, in the data that Community Union sent to us, we noticed that there are number of other Community Union members who had a very similar experience to the one my family member had. The Union supported them in submitting an Employment Tribunal claim, then withdrew the support towards them claiming there are no reasonable prospects of winning the claim. Or the Union referred the matter to their panel firm who assessed the merits of success and the concluded there are no reasonable prospects of winning the Tribunal case. Which happened to my family member and when she obtained an Independent Legal advice, she was told her chances of winning are significantly reduced due to the Community Union's failures, however she still got over 50% chances of winning, therefore the Union was supposed to support her claim.

Numerous emails were since then sent to the Head of Legal, the General Secretary and the Assistant GS asking to explain why my family member was lied to, asking how come the person she complained against (the head of legal) is the same person responding to her complaint. We never received a response.

I would like to thank Katie Alan and Andy page-smith for there outstanding work, I had a on going situation at work for 9 months that was very stressful for me, these 2 lovely people got me though it , very supportive,very understanding and very professional. I can not thank them enough. If it wasn't for them I probably would of given up.