MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Moral rules and trade union principles
rules are discernible from the systems of representative rationality
within the union?
One manager points to the achievement of consensus as the important
factor:-
You really have got to have a consensus if things are going to
work. It's no good us trying to pursue a certain path of
management style that is going to be opposed by the people at
the top of the union. They do have some power at the end of the
day. (Interviewee A)
Another manager has a similar approach in a different, regional,
context:-
We are managing to find a good deal of consensus about how
we move forward both between the two groups and within the
political factions, which is helpful. So that involves getting
streams of people in pubs for hours trying to convince them of a
certain point of view (Interviewee M)
Partnership is another idea articulated:-
Senior lay officials have got facility time available and the skill is
to involve them in that decision making process and make them
run in partnership with senior officials. That’s the trick.
(Interviewee K)
And facilitation was another idea:-
I think what I am trying to do , and I have tried to do more and
more, is work with the executive in a way that I offer them
leadership but I am not telling them what to do. I am facilitating
them in the process of hopefully taking ownership of the product
(Interviewee G)
In that spirit, the same interviewee took a positive and principled
approach to involving lay members in her work:-
I was amazed when I took over pay bargaining in the Revenue
that it was done entirely by full time officers. My first pay round in
the Revenue was me and the negotiations officer head-to-head
with management, no lay involvement at all in the bargaining
process and then I had to come out and front it up with the
executive. The second year I said that I want some lay people
involved in this process and the rest of the officers looked at me
as if I was mad -- high-risk strategy! And we did it and it worked
really well and this year I have been the only full time officer in
the process with one of the executive working very closely with
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