MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Resource distribution systems
It is my role to provide timely and meaningful financial
information to the NEC and the Finance and General Purposes
Committee so that they can make informed decisions. I also
have to keep all my colleagues who hold budgets, about 35 or
40 of them who are budget holders, we need to supply
information to them about how their budgets are running so that
they can warn them if they are going to over spend. Beyond that
I supply all sorts of information to people as and when they want
it.
So UNISON’s systems seem devolved and formal and there is little
direct criticism of them. In terms of physical space, at national level, the
first decision after merger had been to set up a project team to seek a
new headquarters. This resulted in a recommendation to the NEC,
which was approved against serious opposition, to negotiate in respect
of three buildings, one in London Docklands, one in the City of London
and one in Islington, the latter – only about a mile from the former
NALGO head office, being the favoured option. However, the first
UNISON conference in 1994 instructed that negotiations cease. The
researcher has his own cultural analysis of that decision, gained as
participant observer, but that does not form part of this research.
However, this decision was regretted:-
On the other hand, we didn't have that much choice. Well, of
course, we did. We could have had a new head office, Mike, as
you well know. We could have all been in one place from day
one but there you are. (Interviewee J)
During the merger process people who I know who worked for
private companies, like Price Waterhouse, who had gone
through a merger said whatever you do avoid having a split
head office. They said always have one. It makes life so much
easier. And I think that's true. (Interviewee E)
As was the way it was reached:-
I think they (ex NALGO activists) were clearly trying to achieve
the preservation of Mabledon Place, not necessarily all for the
same reasons. It was immensely symbolic. The lay members
took a number of decisions over a period of time that we were
going to have a new union, we were going to have new
structures, new this, new that but we were not going to have a
new head office. We were effectively going to take a decision
which meant one of the head offices of the partner unions was
going to be the head office. I think there were a lot of people
motivated by that. I think, to be honest, AJ was motivated by
that. I think he worked actively to retain Mabledon Place.
(Interviewee A)
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