25% Cuts
When Unison came into being in 1993 - it was a shotgun marriage, a wedding of convenience - a financially driven merger of three formerly independent unions - COSHE, NALGO and NUPE.
One of the first things the new union announced, after an initial spending splurge - was that budgets had to be cut - which would mean 25% fewer staff.
Because the new organisation had to tighten its belt to survive.
No longer could the new union simply - spend, spend spend - otherwise members' contributions would have to go through the roof - and that solution was completely unacceptable.
A new era had arrived which meant tough choices and hard times ahead - relatively speaking at least - compared to the salad days of the past.
Now there were trade unions inside Unison, of course - representing the interests of different groups of staff - and the foot soldiers, as ever, were not responsible for creating the financial crisis.
Nonetheless the strategy of slashing spending was implemented - forcefully and with absolute determination.
Budgets were scaled back without hysterics - and without anyone mounting the barricades - because there was, quite simply, no other choice.
People went about the task of fitting square pegs into round holes - building again for better times in the future - and all this had to be done without damaging 'front-line' services to union members.
So while trade unions are great experts at telling everybody else what to do - or what not to do - even they would have to admit that sometimes people have to live within their means - even the unions themselves from time to time.
One of the first things the new union announced, after an initial spending splurge - was that budgets had to be cut - which would mean 25% fewer staff.
Because the new organisation had to tighten its belt to survive.
No longer could the new union simply - spend, spend spend - otherwise members' contributions would have to go through the roof - and that solution was completely unacceptable.
A new era had arrived which meant tough choices and hard times ahead - relatively speaking at least - compared to the salad days of the past.
Now there were trade unions inside Unison, of course - representing the interests of different groups of staff - and the foot soldiers, as ever, were not responsible for creating the financial crisis.
Nonetheless the strategy of slashing spending was implemented - forcefully and with absolute determination.
Budgets were scaled back without hysterics - and without anyone mounting the barricades - because there was, quite simply, no other choice.
People went about the task of fitting square pegs into round holes - building again for better times in the future - and all this had to be done without damaging 'front-line' services to union members.
So while trade unions are great experts at telling everybody else what to do - or what not to do - even they would have to admit that sometimes people have to live within their means - even the unions themselves from time to time.
