MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Cognitive rules and culture
I think trade unions are often very embarrassed to manage. I
think certainly going back to BIFU, not immediately before
merger but back awhile, it really was a dirty word, it really was
embarrassing. Nobody managed anybody, you know. We can
keep all our trade union principles pure if we don't manage. And
also, I didn't join to be a manager, I joined to be a researcher, or
whatever. And I think that culture has changed although there
are still those around, and those in what I would call managerial
positions, who still operate in that way (Interviewee J)
The same manager conceptualises one aspect of this issue in terms of
the undervaluation of management:-
There are others who I think see it (management) as a bit of a
luxury and a bit of, not really a waste of time but of course you
can fuss about with that but if you were doing this real job like
I'm doing, then you would not have time for that. And probably
an inference that you must have time to spare because you
spend some of it on management. But that would probably be
said less to our faces these days, I suppose (Interviewee J)
Managers seem to believe that there have been significant changes in
this area. In that, however, may be some element of (as one manager
put it) cynicism about some aspects of management, it is interesting to
try to discern managers’ perceptions of the attitudes of full time officers,
often portrayed as particularly resistant to management. And here,
some UNiFI managers do seem to recognised this phenomenon:-
I think it is very prevalent, (FTOs’ resistance to management)
particularly if you try to manage how they conduct their work.
And I do not believe that that is really our job. I think our job is
more to ensure that they operate within the parameters that the
union sets, not on how they go about negotiating with the
employer (Interviewee O)
To this manager, it is the type of management that is important, rather
than management itself, a view which is supported by others:-
UNiFI have had to break down some of the old values that a lot
of people operated under. So there were in my experience areas
who believed themselves to be almost autonomous from the rest
of the union. Officials who would say "well I don't care what they
tell us, this is the where I operate in my area, my members think
I'm wonderful and marvellous and I deliver and I've got the best
negotiating record." And I suppose that what we have been able
to do, being a new union, is to bring everybody in and say that
the philosophy we want to preach is one gang, many teams. It is
delivering what the union wants. How you deliver it is down to
you but never forget that you do have an accountability and you
do have a responsibility. (Interviewee C)
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