MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Moral rules and trade union principles
One of my values, deeply held, has been this open approach --
being truthful, not manipulating information, sharing as much of
it as I can (Interviewee G)
In the context, this could be regarded as a subset of ‘fairness’ –
appropriate behaviour in a value driven organisation. A similar context
is evident from another statement:-
Fairness is important. Making certain that all the elected people
feel that they are getting a good service from us. (Interviewee O)
And the theme of openness is reflected in this statement:-
I think we recognise that if the union is going to prosper, then we
need to take account of other people's views (Interviewee A)
The idea is introduced by another manager with the general thought
that, in effect, one should manage in a way which reflects members’
expectations – that, in effect, it was consistent with their values:-
Although there are very often people working in trade unions
who are not political activists, who are members of staff or
whatever but who associate with the ethos and the principles of
the trade union movement, your daily job, no matter where you
work in the union, is to a greater or lesser degree involving you
with what the union is there to do, which is to serve the interests
of members and you would not want it thrown at you by a
member of staff that the way you're treating me - if this was one
of your bloody members what would you be doing? …There are
times when you have to, despite the highest standards that you
would apply to how you dealt with a member, also apply to your
own staff. (Interviewee D)
However, the same interviewee was in no doubt that this did not mean
that trade union managers had to be a walkover:-
In a sense, I have always taken, despite everything I have said
so far, a very clear management line that management does
have to manage, whether it is in a trade union or elsewhere
because you are dealing with big business, multi-million pounds
of income, members' money, the only source of income that we
have, apart from any investments we may have, and we have
got in our union probably in the region of about 350 to 400 staff
in total whose futures are at stake. (Interviewee D)
There is evidence here of value driven approaches to management
within PCS and of values which will impact on the people whom these
managers manage, although there is no obvious unanimity around the
details. The democratic structure of the union represents another
context in which management activities are undertaken. What moral
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