Many reasons to join PAM
Updated: 06.09.2022
When you join PAM, you’ll be entitled to a collective agreement, a shop steward to support and advise you with any problems at your workplace, PAM’s employment advisory services, legal assistance and a lawyer’s services if you need them to deal with any employment issues, material to monitor terms and conditions of employment, splendid member benefits and earnings-related unemployment benefits in case you lose your job.
Collective agreements
Advice in all employment-related matters
Legal services for employment-related matters
Security for the unemployed
Training
Other membership benefits
Service sector workers tell why they belong to PAM
Belonging to a trade union is the best thing there is! Join PAM
Only trade unions stand up for workers in working life. Benefits like workers’ holiday entitlements, sick pay or parental leave didn’t just happen. The status of these and many other employee benefits depends on each and every member. Trade unions negotiate collective agreements, where working rules are agreed on, and unions also influence legislation.
It’s only as a union member that you can help to hold on to these employee benefits and stop them being undercut! That’s why belonging to a trade union is the best thing there is.
When you join PAM, you will be one of a group of people taking an interest in how well workers are looked after. In PAM you won’t have to sort out your pay or negotiate your working conditions yourself. And if you have problems in your job, you won’t have to deal with them by yourself either – help is at hand from your union. When you work in the private service sector, your union is PAM.
Collective agreements
PAM’s most important role is to negotiate collective agreements for service sectors. These set out the minimum conditions to be applied in work, such as pay, working time, sick pay, compensation for weekday public holidays etc. These conditions are the minimum conditions that employers must apply to all their employees. Collective agreements mean that you don’t have to negotiate your working conditions yourself; PAM has negotiated them for you.
Collective agreements set out working conditions, including pay. Your trade union negotiates them for you, backed by 210,000 members.
Advice in all employment-related matters
You can always contact your shop steward if you have any questions relating to your job. These might be about your pay, working shifts or extra working hours. If there is no shop steward, PAM’s employment service will help you.
You will be looked after by the shop steward at your workplace or PAM’s advice services.
Legal services for employment-related matters
As a member you have access to legal assistance and the services of the union’s lawyer. PAM advises members on employment matters around 50,000 times a year and is involved in solving around 1000 disputes. The majority of workplace disputes have to do with an employee´s wages being underpaid. Check the disputes page to see what type of cases PAM has handled and is handling for its members. PAM’s legal assistance is excellent: it provides more coverage than in many other trade unions
Security for the unemployed
As a PAM member you automatically belong to PAM’s Unemployment Fund. You are entitled to apply earnings-related unemployment allowance when you have been a member of the Unemployment Fund for at least 6 months.
Training
Member training is provided free of charge for members! As a member you get training to increase your professional skills or prepare you to be a shop steward or work in your branch.
Other membership benefits
PAM membership benefits can be used both at work and in your spare time. E.g. holiday and insurance benefits, fuel discounts etc. Click here to read more.
Service sector workers tell why they belong to PAM
Read our members’ own stories here.
Join
It’s easy to join online. Click here or call 030 100 630.