MICHAEL DEMPSEY - Cranfield University

Cognitive rules and culture
force -- in fact the terms of reference were very broad. It was
whatever the General Secretary wanted to do, really. That was
the most important issue. And that was accepted because the
role of the General Secretary was pre-eminent. (Interviewee L)
There is, however, much less clarity on the place of the NCU on this
continuum, at least partly because it was a highly factional union and
consequently difficult to pin down the sources of power. However, there
is more common ground on a conclusion that the CWU is a partnership
union.
Partnership. It just can't be General Secretary led or senior
officer led because of the size of the National Executive
Committee. As soon as anything is put to the vote, if the lay
members have decided that they're not having it, it doesn't
matter what the General Secretary says. The vote is the vote
and that's it. Generally speaking, the only way to achieve
anything is through partnership (Interviewee M)
The power of the NEC is conceptualised in different ways:-
The balance of power is not excessive one way or the other, the
General Secretary or the executive. I would not sit and say that
the executive or the General Secretary dominates excessively. I
think the balance of power is tilted towards the executive, which
I don't have a problem with, I have to say. I don't think this
executive is a pushover. It is quite capable of getting itself
mobilised and checking any officer, including the General
Secretary. (Interviewee G)
I would say that it is a very old model. Newspapers even very
recently were talking about union barons meeting with the leader
at the Labour Party, Gordon Brown and so on. With the greatest
respect ……..there is no union in the country, even my friend
Ken Jackson's union, which is run in a feudal way any longer.
This is a leftover from the Sixties. (Interviewee C)
You certainly couldn't say that this was a General Secretary led
union; although he is a very powerful character; he suffered
some very heavy defeats at conference this year. In fact, I think
they were the worst that I have ever seen. (Interviewee O)
More significant in some areas may have been the issue of election of
officers where there was significant difference between the two unions,
reflected in the values of organisational members:-
I think there were a lot more of, and this is only my perception
now so this might be wide of the mark, a lot more of appointed
officers in the ex NCU who were vocal about making sure that
there was still a role for appointed officers because most officers
in the ex UCW were elected and they were reluctant to go to that
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