Reorganising UNISON within the NHS

This paper aims to explore the rationale underpinning the national development of UNISON's organising strategy and its implementation at regional and branch levels.

The author used non‐participant observation case studies in three National Health Service (NHS) UNISON branches of 92, 49 and 17 per cent density and 45 interviews with non‐members, members, branch activists (key‐stewards and stewards), full‐time officers and managers.

UNISON aimed to devolve financial resources to branches whilst encouraging participation supported by training and increased in‐fill recruitment. Initial regional support diminished because of managerial opposition. Individual attempts by regional staff to resurrect the strategy met with significant resistance within branches as key‐stewards regarded it as largely inappropriate.

Concentration on a single union region, which experienced specific problems, could exaggerate poor articulation of strategy. Small numbers of interviews with full‐time officers may ignore alternative viewpoints within the national and regional levels.

Rather than using the union organising model as a yardstick against which to measure the impact of change, this work examines the incremental development of national strategy and explores the problems of implementation throughout the union to branch level.