MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Resource distribution systems
quarters ahead in that you have spent three-quarters of your
budget; how do you plan to get through the next six months on
three months money?" And why are you there at this stage and
if not you're going to have to sort it out because there is no more
money”. That's the type of thing that I think is different. And I
think that then that individual has the responsibility to square it
with the lay structure, saying that you cannot have meetings
called at the drop of a hat because the budget will not stand it.
That does not mean that we will not allow you deviation but that
the case has got to be made. And it's not just because -- oh, I've
run out of money. So I think that this is an example where I think
that the management side's key (Interviewee O)
UNiFI has experimented with on-line meetings rather than face to face
ones. However, when this was explained, there was no mention of
resource savings having been an incentive for such a development –
rather that it had produced a more effective example of lay democracy:-
That committee has become virtually virtual. They met
yesterday but it is only the second time they have met in over a
year. We are featuring online work, why don't we try and make
this committee virtual?….. I can get a better debate on an online
basis, with more contributions, I get a more measured debate….
It is a pain in the arse, though, because it takes a lot longer.
(Interviewee G)
In terms of physical resources, as was described above, UNiFI decided
to keep open the three offices inherited from partner unions. There was
virtual unanimity that this had been essential:-
I was able to say that we will be able to make you certain
promises, having gone through mergers before, it was pretty
easy to determine what needed to be said. So it was on that
basis that I was able to say to staff here, and we presented it as
an NWSA initiative, that we would have three head offices and
we would not do anything with the three until at least three
years. That meant that everybody could sit back and breathe a
sigh of relief, because people are quite short-term really. Once
they had sat back and breathed a sigh of relief, we could get on
with the merger instead of getting on with the merger through
the letter box of "I'm going to lose my job, the office Is going and
so on." That became a crucial decision to be taken and in the
end we trusted each other. (Interviewee N)
And over and over again managers made the same point about the
importance of the decision to the merger process, in particular for the
smaller unions:-
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