The Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) was a

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, representing

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...

History

The union was founded in 1921, when the Civil Service Clerical Union and the Clerical Officers' Association merged to form the Civil Service Clerical Association (CSCA). It affiliated with the

Trades Union Congress The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is a national trade union centre A national trade union center (or national center or central) is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a country. Nearly every country in the world has a national tra ...

(TUC) and the Labour Party and had around 16,000 members. Its Dublin branch left the following year, to form the Civil and Public Services Union. Following the

1926 United Kingdom general strike The 1926 general strike in the United Kingdom was a general strike that lasted nine days, from 4 to 12 May 1926. It was called by the General Council of the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in an unsuccessful attempt to force the British governm ...

, the

Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 The Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 ( 17 and 18 Geo V c 22) was a British Act of Parliament passed in response to the General Strike of 1926, introduced by the Attorney General for England and Wales, Sir Douglas Hogg MP. Provisions R ...

was passed, requiring government employees to disaffiliate from political parties and trades union confederations, compelling the union to leave the Labour Party and the TUC. It rejoined the TUC in 1946. In 1969, the union renamed itself the Civil and Public Services Association. In 1973, the

Ministry of Labour Staff Association The Ministry of Labour Staff Association (MLSA) was a British trade union representing civil servants working in the Ministry of Labour. The union was founded in 1912 as the National Federation of Employment Department Clerks, bringing together ...

joined the CPSA, then the Court Officers Association joined in 1974. In 1980, the CPSA published a history of its first 75 years, ''From Humble Petition to Militant Action''. In 1985, the union's Postal and Telecommunications Group left to merge with the

Post Office Engineering Union The Post Office Engineering Union (POEU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. It represented engineering staff in the Post Office, mostly working in telecommunications. History The union was founded in 1915 when the Post Office Enginee ...

, forming the

National Communications Union The National Communications Union (NCU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was founded in 1985 when the Post Office Engineering Union and the Postal and Telecommunications Group of the Civil and Public Services Association merge ...

. The CPSA merged with the

Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union The Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union (PTC) was a short-lived trade union in the United Kingdom. The union was formed in January 1996, when the Inland Revenue Staff Federation merged with the National Union of Civil and Public Servants.< ...

in 1998, forming the

Public and Commercial Services Union The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) is the sixth largest trade union in the United Kingdom. Most of its members work in UK government departments and other public bodies. History The union was founded in 1998 by the merger of th ...

1986 General Secretary Election

Militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

supporter John Macreadie initially won the ballot. However, the election was blocked and the courts ordered it to be re-run, with John Ellis receiving 42,000 votes, Macreadie 31,000, and the Broad Left '84 candidate, backed by the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

, 13,000.

General Secretaries

:1921: William Brown :1942:

Len White Leonard Roy White (23 March 1930 – 17 June 1994) was an English professional footballer who played as a centre-forward, most noted for playing at Newcastle United. He is Newcastle United's third highest goalscorer of all-time. Biography B ...

:1955: George Green :1963: Len Wines :1967: Bill Kendall :1976: Ken Thomas :1982:

Alistair Graham Sir John Alistair Graham (born 6 August 1942) is a British trade unionist who was Chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life from 2003 until April 2007. He was born in Northumberland, and was educated at the Royal Grammar School, Ne ...

:1986: John Ellis :1992:

Barry Reamsbottom Barry Arthur Reamsbottom (born 4 April 1949) is a former Scottish civil servant and trade union General Secretary. He was General Secretary of the Civil and Public Services Association (1992–1998) and its successor the Public and Commercial ...

References

External links

Catalogue of the CPSA archives
held at the

Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick The Modern Records Centre (MRC) is the specialist archive service of the University of Warwick in Coventry, England, located adjacent to the Central Campus Library. It was established in October 1973 and holds the world's largest archive collecti ...

{{Authority control Trade unions established in 1921 Trade unions disestablished in 1998 Defunct trade unions of the United Kingdom Civil service trade unions 1921 establishments in the United Kingdom