MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Resource distribution systems
It held back our progress enormously, I would say. I think any
organisation underestimates the importance of space and how
you allocate space at its peril. Undoubtedly the different
buildings had different cultures and personalities and different
takes on the merger and it is particularly true, I think, of the
Woolwich people who for a whole host of reasons felt that they
had been dumped in Outer Mongolia and that nobody really
cared, not only about them as individuals but about the function
they were responsible for. (Interviewee J)
The fact that we were split up, it was dreadful. The effect of that
decision, that we didn't move into one head office, it had a
debilitating effect on the union for many years, first of all
alienating staff who had to move, perhaps unnecessarily, long
distances across London and secondly it meant that functions
which should work together were working separately.
(Interviewee C)
An idealised solution was offered by one manager, who nevertheless
had an opinion about why it had not been possible:-
With the benefits of hindsight, we should just have moved into a
new building on the first day of Unison. Having said that, I don't
think we would have got Unison if we said we were going to
move into a new building because you have to carry staff with
you apart from anything else and as a key stakeholder in the
merger, if we hadn't carried the staff, they would not have been
a new union. I think all the staff in the three unions would have
lobbied heavily against moving into a new office. It was difficult
enough to persuade the NUPE people that they were not going
to move to Mabledon Place on the creation of the union.
(Interviewee A)
There were decisions taken much later in the merger to rationalise
regional offices so there is some data on the effect of this. At this stage,
one would observe that the systems for allocation of space on the birth
of the union were not seen by managers as ideal. This evidence, all
gathered some 9 years after merger, show how the allocation of space
is still a key issue with managers in UNISON. It is one which, they
appear to believe continues to have importance for the management of
the organisation.
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