MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Cognitive rules and culture
committees which operated in the various institutions. Each unit
had a national company committee, like Barclays etc. Now these
in our view were stifled because there decisions had to be
rubber stamped by the executive. The fact that these
committees now have autonomy is in my view a huge
improvement. So the decisions are taken within the broad
policies set down by conference. The problem with BIFU was
that BIFU was living in an era that no longer existed. BIFU was
living in a position where its annual conference would determine
policy on a wide range of negotiating issues but it was no longer
central collective bargaining for the industry. We were down to
employer bargaining. And there hadn't been for many, many
years. Now the old BIFU of course would mandate because you
would go in and talk with the banking federation and that would
determine the terms and conditions, that would determine the
pay rise etc. That has long since gone and we are really into the
law of the enterprise culture. We negotiate within each individual
company now and they are totally separate and totally
autonomous. And I think that the new union reflects that. And I
think that's a very positive step (Interviewee O)
And one manager has a more down to earth example of changes which
he perceives as having occurred:-
If there's any shift in the way the old BIFU operated which belies
the fact that this has been a BIFU takeover, it is this. (Company
Committee autonomy) It is a massive change. The old BIFU
would discuss things. They once had a discussion about
whether we would have a finger buffet or a fork buffet at TUC
reception in Blackpool. (Interviewee A)
The suggestion of the ex old UNiFI manager, that ex BIFU managers
saw practices moving in the direction of more autonomy seems to be
supported by these views. These issues relate to ways of working,
relationships and the ‘feel’ of the organisations involved. One would,
therefore, expect them to perceive these issues in cultural terms and to
find the new culture more amenable than some managers from the
other unions, who perceive their authority as having been to some
extent eroded. Some managers, as we have seen, have expressed
their perceptions in cultural terms and there are other examples where
they have done this:-
I don't think that the two cultures -- actually there are three
cultures and I think, in fact I know, that the old NWSA culture
was much more strongly allied to the old Unifi culture than the
BIFU culture -- and yet it’s the BIFU culture that still in my view
pre-dominates. That's not too surprising given that numerically
they are just about dominant. (Interviewee F)
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