MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Moral rules and trade union principles
consequences of the merger, these are easily discernible. There are
also feelings of disempowerment; these, however, are rather
generalised rather than pointing specifically at issues where there
might be felt to be cultural inhibitions such as managing performance.
These issues might become clearer when boundary management and
representative rationality are discussed, as they are below.
Systems relating to moral rules
6.11. The issue here is whether there are identifiable principles influencing
the way PCS managers undertake their managerial roles, particularly in
the area of people management. One senior manager identified issues
of mutual protection as being significant:-
We are trade unionists and you have to be able to defend your
decision on some sort of trade union principles. I mean I hesitate
to use that but that’s the language of trade unionism. I never
know what trade union principles are but they are there.
Somehow or other, you don’t have to write them down, there is a
principle which says that we will band together collectively to
protect each other. Inherent in that is a principle. It’s not a
coward’s way out; it is in fact a very difficult part of the
managerial process but I’m sure it’s the right way to deal with it.
(Interviewee K)
Another mentioned fairness:-
I think for me it was a basic notion of fairness and unfairness. I
always had a tremendous interest in equality and women's
positions -- partly my upbringing and the time I grew up through
the women's movement in the Seventies and early Eighties. So
that was my consciousness, if you like. And I think my early
exposure to work being interviewed for the civil service, it must
have been around 1972, where the first question on the civil
service interview panel was "what were my intentions about
getting married and having children" -- why should they employ
women, you know. Which you knew instinctively was completely
horrible. So I always had that interest. I then became involved
as a lay rep quite early on and I suppose when I was involved in
the union, that kind of focused my interest in equality as well, if
you like as a subject. So I have, if you like, an instinctive feeling
about fairness (Interviewee N)
The same interviewee, moving from her personal values system,
identified what she felt were the values of the union:-
The values systems of the union -- you know, not supporting any
force in society which fosters divisions and promoting the
interests of minority groups (Interviewee N)
A definition which clearly chimed with her own values. But personal
value systems could take other forms:-
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