BUILDING A PERMANENT ASSOCIATION? THE DEVELOPMENT OF STAFF ASSOCIATIONS IN THE BUILDING SOCIETIES
| Author | A. I. R. Swabe,Patricia Price |
| Date | 01 July 1984 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.1984.tb00162.x |
| Published date | 01 July 1984 |
BUILDING A PERMANENT ASSOCIATION?
THE DEVELOPMENT OF STAFF ASSOCIATIONS
IN THE BUILDING SOCIETIES
A.I.R. SWABE*
AND
PATRICIA PRICE?
INTRODUCTION
The Certification Officer surveying existing staff associations concluded that the
building society movement 'is the only one in which the staff associations enjoy a
relatively unchallenged position'. We would argue, that this is an underestimate
of
their position, which on the evidence has not been effectively challenged.
We conducted an enquiry in depth into five
of
the staff associations who represent
63
per cent
of
the organised labour force. We
also
examined eighteen other
associations. Thus
our
enquiry deepens and updates available information on this
little-researched area. (Winterton and Winterton, 1982; Purcell. 1984)
Before 1970 there was only one staff association in existence, by 1974 seven
associations had been founded. (Swabe and Price, 1983) However, only the
Nationwide Staff Association,
of
these seven, was operating in one of the big five
societies. The remaining four big building societies, the Halifax, the Abbey National,
the Leeds and the Woolwich had no organisation. It is important to note the significant
difference in scale in terms of assets and numbers
of
employees compared to the many
smaller societies. Table 1 gives the picture in 1980. It is clear that unionisation in any
form up to 1974 was limited. The Commission on Industrial Relations (C.I.R. 1974)
reporting on this earlier period, concluded that these staff associations were not
comparable to outside trade unions, in terms either
of
independence
or
effectiveness.
We undertook
our
enquiry to assess the growth and operation of these staff
associations since 1974 and to see
if
the critique
of
the C.I.R. is still appropriate.
THE
GROWTH
OF
THE
BUILDING SOCIETIES' STAFF ASSOCIATIONS 1974-1981
In 1974 seven associations existed, by 1982 there were twenty-three associations
of
which thirteen held certificates
of
independence (Table 2). It is interesting to note the
rate
of
growth since 1975 when three associations were added to the seven in
existence (Certification Officer, 1979). There was
no
growth in numbers in 1976, one
in 1977, the Abbey National Staff Association in the second largest society, one more
in 1978 followed by five additions in 1979, including the Halifax Building Society Staff
Association within the largest society in the United Kingdom and hence the largest
source
of
membership. In 1980 two more associations came onto the list
of
trade
unions and were joined by four more in
1981.
Thus whilst only twenty-three out
of
251
societies had staff associations listed as unions, in the five major societies employing
much larger numbers
of
staff, with the exception
of
the Leeds Permanent, there are
active staff associations. These five have certificates
of
independence. Outside T.U.C.
trade union activity, where it exists at all, is confined to societies with small staffs.'
Since 1978, when the Certification Officer surveyed this field, there have been some
changes. There are
of
course far more associations listed and with certificates
of
*
t
Head
of
Business Studies, Polytechnic
of
Central London
Research Assistant, Polytechnic
of
Central London.
195
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