The Civil Service Union (CSU) was a trade union in the United Kingdom which existed between 1917 and 1988. It represented lower-paid staff within the British Civil Service such as cleaners and messengers.

CSU
Civil Service Union
Merged intoNational Union of Civil and Public Servants
Founded1917
Dissolved1988
Headquarters5 Praed Street, London[1]
Location
  • United Kingdom
Members
43,513 (1982)[1]
PublicationThe Whip[1]
AffiliationsTrades Union Congress, CCSU

History

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The union was formed in 1917 as the Association of Government Messengers and Attendants and later became the Government Minor and Manipulative Grades Association.[2][3] The union primarily represented staff who worked in the Civil Service, but also in other public organisations.

The CSU was seen as being more militant than other unions within the civil service and was, along with the Civil and Public Services Association, the first to adopt a strike policy backed by a fighting fund, in 1969.[4] The CSU also supported introducing a closed shop policy within the civil service.[5] By the late 1970s the CSU had 46,827 members, of whom 45,732 worked in the civil service.[6] In January 1988 the union joined with the Society of Civil and Public Servants to form the National Union of Civil and Public Servants.[3]

Leadership

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General Secretaries

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1933: Dick Gifford[7]
1943: Victor Carvell[7]
1963: John Vickers[8]
1977: Les Moody
1982: John Sheldon[9]

Deputy General Secretaries

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1944: Robert Anderson[7]
1953: Vacant[7]
1954: Zed Smith[7]
1960: Jon Vickers[7]
1962: Les Moody[7]
1978: John Sheldon[7]
1982:

Presidents

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1933: W. Ewart Llewellyn[7]
1938: George McDouall[7]
1945: Harold Newton[7]
1967: Monty Rose[7]
1984: Margaret Morrison[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Marsh, Arthur (1984). Trade Union Handbook (3 ed.). Aldershot: Gower. pp. 159–160. ISBN 0566024268.
  2. ^ "Records of the Civil Service Union" (PDF). Modern Records Centre, University of Warwick. 9 June 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Trade union family trees - Public and Commercial Services Union" (PDF). Trade Union Ancestors. 23 September 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 December 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  4. ^ Lowe, Rodney (2011). The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the. Vol. 1, The Fulton Years, 1966–1981. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 283. ISBN 0-203-83155-1. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  5. ^ Lowe, Rodney (2011). The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the. Vol. 1, The Fulton Years, 1966–1981. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 296. ISBN 0-203-83155-1. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  6. ^ Lowe, Rodney (2011). The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the. Vol. 1, The Fulton Years, 1966–1981. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 284. ISBN 0-203-83155-1. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Edwards, Kathleen L. (1975). The Story of the Civil Service Union. London: George Allen and Unwin.
  8. ^ Lowe, Rodney (2011). The Official History of the British Civil Service: Reforming the. Vol. 1, The Fulton Years, 1966–1981. Abingdon: Routledge. p. 287. ISBN 0-203-83155-1. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  9. ^ Kandiah, Michael; Lowe, Rodney, eds. (2007). "The Civil Service Reforms of the 1980s" (PDF). Centre for Contemporary British History. p. 22.
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