I missed this one our Mel !!! 
I agree with the documenting of evidence and putting requests in writing. Also the guy who asked for time off because of babysitter problems is
(like it or not) legally entitled to that time off, within reason !! - and is covered by the Employment Relations Act 1999 - link below.
http://www.dti.gov.uk/employment/emp...page19475.html
Different rules apply to small companies but in general the employer must consult before any changes to the contract including hours and shift patterns
As the senior union rep for 14 years at what used to be one of Hyndburns biggest employers and most will have had one of our greeting cards at sometime !! -
I've gotta take issue over "Unions, don't touch em with a barge pole"
In all my time there (24 yrs) we never had one strike - - never saw my position as one to cause them either - things had to be talked through and a working compromise come to ! - if you strike everybody loses - you lose wages, the Company loses sales/orders, the Company's market will move to another supplier
And, if the end comes (as it did to us) - when the American owners decide they wanted only one production site in the UK, and the UK board who were based at the other site in Bradford decided to close us - then thats when paying your Union subs can show a return.
Ok - everybody is covered by Statutory Redundancy Pay and in the majority of cases thats all they get !! - the
maximum you can get for 20 years service and over is 20 x your weeks wage up to a
maximum £8,700
But if you have a strong and healthy union as we did - they can negotiate a better package - we had guys/gals there that had been there since leaving school at 15 - some with 40+ years service - we negotiated a deal that paid for every year of service not just 20 - and at a premium that gave most people 2-3 weeks wages for each and every year of service, -some of those older guy's, who had given their lives to that Company walked away with over £80,000 -
Now - tell me that Unions are a total waste of time !!!