Bell, Leslie (1983) An analysis of the branch level activities of the Coventry National Association of Schoolmasters / Union of Women Teachers with particular reference to the role of the local executive. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

Through participant observation, structured and informal interviews, supported by documentary evidence and a questionnaire, this study examines the branch level activities of one small, urban local association of the NAS/UWT. After considering the growth and develop­ment of the national association, it looks at the growth of the local organization and its present structure. It argues that school representatives are in an ambiguous position in which they are subject to a variety of different expectations which they are not trained to fulfil and that the work of the association focuses on three key officers, the president, the treasurer and the secretary. Their roles are examined in some detail and so is the local executive committee, the meetings of which are the main arena in which the business of the local association is transacted. The secretary emerges as the central figure in the local organization although much that he does is circum­scribed by the activities of the LEA to which he has to respond on > behalf of the local NAS/UWT.
This study argues that the secretary and the other officers have to justify their actions to the membership. They do this through a language of legitimation which contains four elements, professionalism, individualism, collectivism and accommodation. The members can accept or reject those justifications depending on whether or not they are thought to be appropriate in a specific context. It is through this negotiation of justifications between officers and members that control and influence are exercised within the organization. The conclusion is drawn that the nature of trade union activity in general, and of trade union government in particular, can be better understood through the observations of how control and influence are negotiated than through debates about the nature of structural arrangements for trans­ferring power within trade unions.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Trade unions -- Great Britain, Labor unions -- Great Britain -- Membership, Labor unions -- Great Britain, Teachers' unions -- Great Britain, Teachers -- Great Britain, Women teachers -- Great Britain
Official Date:	May 1983
Dates:	Date Event May 1983 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Warwick Business School
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Bain, George Sayers
Extent:	384 leaves
Language:	eng

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