A study of civil service trade unionism, with particular reference to factionalism, in an era of pay delegation

Funnell, Stephen Christopher

Abstract

For a minority of members (of usually left-wing persuasion) the union has a wider purpose than defending and improving individual and collective terms and conditions of employment - that is, to interact with the broader labour movement as a force for political and social change. Members with similar views on union purpose and politics combine in factions to gain power and determine the unions’ aims, policies and methods.

This thesis examines factionalism in the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and in one of its predecessors, the Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA), and how such factionalism shaped the character of both unions. In the 1990s, there was much structural decentralisation in the civil service; semi-autonomous executive agencies were created and responsibility for pay determination was ‘delegated’ either to the level of the agency or its parent department. This thesis examines in detail the effects of pay delegation in two such agencies, the Employment Service and the Benefits Agency, particularly the interaction between the two main factions in the CPSA: the ‘moderates’ whose power was centred at the top of the union, and the socialist faction whose power was based at the level of the agencies.

The thesis then explains how factionalism in the civil-service unions was instrumental in the creation of the PCS, and how the socialist faction took and consolidated power in the new union. It explores industrial relations in two departments, the Department for Work and Pensions and the Ministry of Defence, and attempts to analyse whether the socialist leadership of the PCS has managed to alter the character of civil-service trade unionism from one that has traditionally sought accommodation with the employer to something more robust. It concludes that the socialist leadership of the PCS has introduced an organising culture with some success, and it has provided some militant resistance to attacks from the government, but it has not transformed the nature of civil-service trade unionism.

Citation

Funnell, S. C. A study of civil service trade unionism, with particular reference to factionalism, in an era of pay delegation. (Thesis). Keele University. https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1048813

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Jan 17, 2025
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 17, 2025
• Public URL: https://keele-repository.worktribe.com/output/1048813
• Award Date: 2010