On Tue, 20 Dec 2005 09:58:45 +0000 (GMT), John Cartmell
wrote:

In article , Andy Hall
wrote:
On Mon, 19 Dec 2005 22:07:58 +0000 (GMT), John Cartmell
wrote:

In article , Andy Hall
wrote:
On the other hand, you have suggested that there are situations where
union involvement is the *only* way.

There are. We've agreed on one - who do you think would employ the
independent counsellor?

I would suggest a combination of government funding, the employer and the
employee. That way, all parties have a stake in doing this and it can be
done impartially and apolitically as it should be.

It's going to get complex, expensive, difficult (and unpopular) to achieve ...

There's no reason why. Employers and employees pay taxes and NI
contributions already. Employers pay for all manner of professional
services. Employees pay union fees - this would simply be an
alternative solution.
Another approach would be employer and government funding and nothing
by the employee. However, that would raise the question of the
possibility of partiality, in the same way as a union is, by
definition, not a neutral party.


--

..andy