MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Cognitive rules and culture
I think management is a pejorative term, or was, in trade union
circles. Until a few years ago management, you would spit,
wouldn't you? Unions didn't manage their resources.
Management was something that you spent your life opposing.
(Interviewee H)
I think that's a traditional view of a trade union official to
management because we have always dealt with a manager in
an adversarial way. In some way we blame them for doing
something to our members and that's why we are involved and
our whole psyche isn't geared to management (Interviewee C)
One manager explained how her previous experience in her former
union had influenced her:-
People have all sorts of baggage and it's certainly true to say
that in NUPE we weren't encouraged to think of ourselves as
managers, certainly the head office staff were not encouraged.
In fact, (the GS) thought the word manager was a dirty word and
we weren't allowed to use it -- and some others still thought we
were managers regardless of that. But lots of people didn't and
they weren't encouraged to think like that (Interviewee J)
This was articulated by one manager who felt that things were now
different:-
But there really has been a tendency that trade union
representatives, trade unionists, are not managers and that the
idea of management is somehow flawed. Nine years into
Unison that is now changing (Interviewee C)
Certainly UNISON has used the language of management for some
time. In 1997 the then General Secretary, Rodney Bickerstaffe wrote
the foreword to guidelines for UNISON’s development review scheme
which included:-
Helping staff to develop their skills, knowledge and abilities to
the full is a central part of the role of all Unison managers.
Development reviewing provides an opportunity for managers to
meet on a regular one to one basis with their staff to fulfil this
responsibility. (UNISON Development Reviewing Guidelines,
1997)
And senior managers have publicly informed the union’s staff of their
roles:-
The role of the senior managers is to
• assist the General Secretary in the development of
organisational strategy and planning to achieve
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