MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Moral rules and trade union principles
Another manager takes a highly principled view of her role but a rather
different approach to what that means in terms of management:-
The reasons why people work for a trade union are usually
different to what they are working for a profit making
organisation. The difference is incredible from that point of view
because you normally work for a union because you have some
sort of principles or some sort of beliefs rather than, you know,
you're out to make a career for yourself or that it's going to be
new power and going to bring you more money or a yacht or
whatever else, you know. There is just that fundamental
difference for starters. I think the unions try to manage in the
way that business manages at times. They set the structures up
because they think that it is the right thing to do and then they
don't follow them through. I mean this organisation has got
Investors in People but I don't see any benefit from that
whatsoever in an organisation like this because in the main
people do things the right way because of their general beliefs.
(Interviewee H)
And openness and consistency are seen as important:-
I think it is important for people to be seen in demonstrating
those (values) and not hiding behind other people's
responsibility. We make a decision, we stick to it but at the
same time if the decision is perverse, we admit it and you have
demonstrated a degree of pragmatism. People are looking for,
obviously they are looking for consistency but they are also
looking for a degree of security in the decision. You know, if I
get a decision from this person, it is going to unravel in a period
of time or is it going to taken back on me. And I think that good
managers can demonstrate that that is not going to be the case.
Bad managers -- well, bad managers are bad managers.
(Interviewee L)
The General Secretary, looking at the union from a strategic viewpoint,
highlights a whole basket of ethical concerns which he believes it is
right for the union to adopt, in its dealings with its people but also with
the outside world:-
Yes, there is (an ethical dimension). From the start I made it
clear that we were not talking about compulsory redundancies.
We may have a voluntary process but they would be no
compulsory redundancies, and we stuck to it. It was very difficult
but we stuck to it. Including some of those who wanted to go but
I said that they would have to stay because we needed them.
We will not do business with people who are not basically
sound. The company Uniservice which we have inherited from
the old Unifi through the guy who is now in charge of it, Bob
Drake, we have put through a complete ethical process. So we
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