MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Conclusions
towards work colleagues and the communication issues which have
already been discussed. Whilst this was earlier than the majority of this
research and pre-dated the institution of the PCS management training
programme, it suggests that (as, it must be said in many organisations)
there is in practice a variety of management styles. At the same time,
many PCS managers plainly have the aspiration of managing in ways
which reflect positive attitudes towards people and the union itself is
providing training to enable managers to be more aware of how this
can be achieved.
6.19. CONCLUSIONS
Trade Union Managers
There is evidence of the battle that went on within one partner union in
which senior officers in negotiating roles developed to the point where
they accepted managerial roles and subsequently became significant
managerial influences. As far as managers in the other partner union
was concerned, there was no similar addressing of this issue. It
continued to cause conflict at a facilitated senior management event at
Eastbourne in 2000, despite managers from both unions identifying
managerial activities which were required to build the new union.
The union does now use the discourse of management and training is
provided for management roles, something which several managers
identified as being key. In their old unions, managerial tasks were often
delegated to specialists because there was no institutional support for
the managerial role and no systems to support it. Managers moved
their positions as a result of senior management initiatives based on
the idea that, without professional managers, structures which
devolved power from the General Secretary, recognising that they were
now in a much larger organisation, would collapse. The size of the new
organisations does seem to have been a significant factor in creating
awareness that managerial tasks had to be undertaken.
Systems
Resource Distribution Systems
PCS is still a substantially centralised union, despite the devolution of
bargaining to the regions. Its financial systems reflect that, although
there is pressure from regions, particularly from those that interface
with new governmental structures such as the Scottish Parliament, for
more devolution. A seminar was held about this topic in 2001 but there
was no agreement on how this should proceed.
In other ways the system seems to be centrally driven in that virement
is not within managers’ prerogative and significant expenditure has to
be the subject of special reporting, budget or not. Lay members are
involved in these processes. This reinforces the centralised nature of
the system. Since the research was carried out, PCS has had financial
difficulties so it seems unlikely that there has been less centralisation
subsequently.
195