As soon as i left school and got a job, the first thing i did was join the union - The UCW as it was known then. I joined because I believed in the things it stood for, or rather what i thought it should stand for..
Workers rights, fair pay, equality, and a stance against racism, sexism, ageism, bullying and harassment. Sticking up for the little man against the big machine.
Where did it all go wrong.  The Unions got too big for their boots and Mrs Thatcher, God bless her kicked the Bejesus's out of them and took away most of their powers. Still they believe they are the machine.
When i was a rep i considered it to be my role to advise members of not only their rights, but their responsibilities. I soon learned that many people, my Father included had neither the time nor the inclination to even listen to the union, let alone pay to be a member. They saw the unions as greedy parasites out to fill their own pockets and achieve power for themselves on the back of other peoples misery.
 The good work that trade unions have done speaks for itself. Fair pay - even a minimum wage, workers rights - massive changes to rights for working parents including flexible hours. Some things we now take for granted , would never have happened were it not for trade unions, paid holidays for example.  For me the union was also there to protect the long term future of the employment, even if this sometimes meant looking after the interest of employer first.
As a post man, every Christmas was massive. Extra hours (Christmas pressure it is known as ), meant extra money from the over tie we had to do. It also meant carrying a lot of weight- bearing in mind this was the '80's and texts, emails and the rest wasn't dreamt of. We delivered thousands of  Christmas cards. Our Christmas bonus was a miniature bottle of whiskey and a book of stamps. Neither the staff or the union ever demanded a busy bonus.. We accepted that whilst it was bloody hard work at least we could guarantee we would be in business next Christmas. We saw the " Christmas bonus" as just that, a bonus.
There were other busy times throughout the year. Gas bills, phone bills, electric bills, sometimes all three at once, would come several times a year not to mention giro day on the Manor.. We didn't get any bonus for been busy then, even though the Post Office would have made a profit at the time.
Next month the 2012 Olympic games come to London, and the iconic red buses will be packed for a month, carrying an estimated 800,000 extra passengers.  Instead of seeing this as a once in a lifetime event, that the red bus drivers can cherish and say "i was part of that", they have voted overwhelmingly to strike for extra money. Many families up and down the country have had their lives shredded by the government cuts to benefits, job closures and pay freezes. How many of the 2million unemployed would be ecstatic to drive a big busy red bus full of tourists celebrating for minimum wage or less?
Some I'm sure will argue that TFL (transport for London), the bus operators, are being tight and it is unfair that all other transport drivers- underground drivers, train drivers, dock workers, in London will receive a £500 bonus. They will also no doubt say that the 21000 members who  voted 9-1 in favour of a strike are right to do so.
I tend to agree. However, it is a sign that the union, like the politicians, has lost touch with normal people when they fail to gain sympathy for this injustice because they present it as greed in times of austerity. Now any great leader and tactician knows you have to pick your fights and there are some that are just not worth winning.
The hypocrisy of a union that is so desperate to connect with common people that it offers unemployed membership at hugely discounted rates but takes away their transport for being asked to work a bit harder for a couple of weeks, has I'm afraid the stench of bad judgement.
At a time when the country is feeling the biggest squeeze for more than half a century, when its work force is being told to work for longer for less and to pay more into their pensions to get less in retirement, industrial action on this scale will make us the laughing stock of the watching  world and could do unrepairable damage to the trade union movement.
I would personally rather see a different battle-maybe a general strike, by members of all unions, after the Olympics, to oppose the outrageous suggestion of none fault dismissal and the destruction of the employment rights i thanked the unions for earlier.. Surely that is a more worthy cause.