The Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) was a
trade union
A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...
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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
, representing
civil servants.
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 center, national trade union centre, a federation of trade unions that collectively represent most unionised workers in England and Wales. There are 48 affiliated unions with a total of ...
(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
Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 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 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, forming the
National Communications Union.
The CPSA merged with the
Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union in 1998, forming the
Public and Commercial Services Union.
1986 General Secretary Election
Militant 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, 13,000.
Leadership
General Secretaries
:1921:
William Brown
:1942:
Len White
:1955:
George Green
:1963: Len Wines
:1967:
Bill Kendall
:1976:
Ken Thomas
:1982:
Alistair Graham
:1986:
John Ellis
:1992:
Barry Reamsbottom
Presidents
:1972: Len Lever
:1975:
Kate Losinska
:1976: Len Lever
:1979:
Kate Losinska
:1982: Kevin Roddy
:1983:
Kate Losinska
:1986: Marion Chambers
References
External links
Catalogue of the CPSA archives held at the
Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick
{{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