MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Conclusions
culture seems to have moved in the direction of significant lay member
control – lay members have accepted these degrees of power.
These cultural battles seem to have been perpetuated at staff level
and, for a variety of reasons, the cultural environment seems to have
been uncomfortable for staff. On the one hand they had not given up
their old cultures, which may have been idealised; on the other hand
their new culture, if it could be discerned, at the very lowest could not
be described as people centred. Many managers influencing this
culture seem to have progressed from conflictual negotiating
experiences, with managers on the opposing side, into managerial
roles for which they had no training and, perhaps, no understanding
that training was necessary. Their experiences may well have
contributed to feelings that dealing with staff indiscipline was difficult –
that, if it really needed to be done, someone else ought to do it – and to
the fact that the union had no systems in place for dealing with staff
performance, with consequent lack of clarity about what managers
were in fact expected to do.
Systems relating to moral rules
Managers in the CWU have not in general been forthcoming about how
they define their trade union principles. They know they are there and
fairness is the one which stands out, sometimes linked with firmness –
most colourfully expressed in the view that a trade unionist needs to
have the sensitivity of a butterfly and the hide of a rhinoceros. But
managers, despite reservations about the actual detail of aspects of the
union’s democratic structures, such as annual elections and the need
to define boundaries, express few negative attitudes to the systems of
representative rationality in the union. These systems are extensive,
involving frequent National Executive elections as well as officer
elections and the absence of much criticism could be regarded as
significant.
Managerial Activities
Deploying resources
Within the framework of the new Strategic Plan, union managers have
proposed a financial strategy which they propose to implement through
vastly improved budgetary and financial control systems. To some
extent, the strategy seems to suggest more responsibility for individual
budget holders. If this is implemented, this will be a major change for a
union which in most other respects is centralised. However, it could be
argued that it is budgetary control rather than full budgetary
responsibility that is being devolved. New lay member structures and
centralised scrutiny of expenditure suggest that the centre may be slow
to let go of its overall control of the system, especially whilst the union
is seeking to overcome its financial difficulties.
From a corporate standpoint, there was no attempt to use the move to
new premises to integrate the cultures of the merging parties, despite
hinting that this was an objective in a video produced for members.
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