FDA (trade union)

The FDA is the only trade union that operates in the administrations of all four nations of the United Kingdom and focuses exclusively on issues of managers and professionals in the civil service.^[2] The membership ranges from Higher Executive Officers to Permanent Secretaries.^[3]

FDA

Founded	1919; 106 years ago (1919)
Headquarters	Borough High Street, London, England
Location	United Kingdom
Members	24,422 (2024)[1]
General Secretary	Dave Penman
Affiliations	TUC, STUC, ICTU, Wales TUC, PSI
Website	fda.org.uk

Since its formation in 1919, the union has grown to more than 24,000 members.^[4]

Members, structure and affiliations

Members

Members of the FDA work across 200 government departments, agencies and arms-length-bodies in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and overseas.^[5]

Employers represented by the FDA include: HMRC, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Crown Prosecution Service, Department for Work and Pensions, Scottish Government, Government Legal Department, Welsh Government, culture including libraries, museums and more.^[2]

Its members include policy advisers, middle and senior managers, tax inspectors, economists, lawyers, prosecutors, school inspectors, diplomats, accountants, fast streamers and senior civil servants.^[2]

In 2002, MI6 partnered with the FDA to provide workplace support, guidance and legal advice to staff whilst maintaining their anonymity. While MI6 staff did not become full union members, the arrangement provided them with support in addressing workplace grievances and accessing legal advice, including cases taken to employment tribunals.^[6]

In 2015, the union expanded its membership base by opening up membership to HEOs, SEOs and their equivalent grades for the first time.^[2]

Membership structure and affiliations

Its federal structure means that some sections of the union operate under separate branding. Three parts of the union have distinctive institutional features. Senior staff at HM Revenue and Customs join the Association of Revenue and Customs (ARC) which is also a certified trade union as well as a section of FDA. Managers in the NHS join Managers in Partnership (MiP), a joint venture with Unison of which MiP members are also members.^[7] Members in middle management (Higher Executive Officer and Senior Executive Officers) join Keystone.^[8]

The FDA is an affiliate of the Trades Union Congress, the Scottish Trades Union Congress, the Wales TUC and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions but is not affiliated to the Labour Party or any other political party.^[9] The FDA is also affiliated to Public Services International.^[10]

Member support

The FDA provides workplace advice, representation and legal advice to managers and professionals in the civil service.^[2] The union provides support with workplace issues around pay, pensions, redundancy, discrimination, bullying, disciplinary charges, dismissal and more.^[3] Each civil service department has an allocated FDA rep who is the first point of contact for any member.^[11]

The FDA holds collective bargaining agreements with over 100 employers which allows them to negotiate on behalf of members pay, pensions, redundancy, quality and other issues.^[12]

History

The FDA was founded in 1919 during a time of political uncertainty following the First World War and the Russian Revolution.^[13]

The union was established by a small group of senior civil servants, who were part of the "First Division”. Their efforts led to the formation of the Association of the First Division of Civil Servants, which is now known as the FDA.^[13]

The original name was chosen because it represented first division (the most senior) clerks, as opposed to the Second Division Association, which represented more junior clerks. Although the terms first and second division clerks were abolished in the 1920s, it proved impossible to agree on an alternative name, and the name remained until 2000 when, following a motion to the union's annual delegate conference, the official name became "FDA".^[14]

The first rule book set out three key objectives of the union which are followed today. The first is to support civil servants with personal issues such as pay and pension arrangements. The second rule recognised the importance of protecting and upholding the integrity of civil servants. The third key objective is to champion equality by campaigning for equal rights.^[13]

In 1935, the FDA campaigned for equal pay rates for men and women which was achieved 20 years later. In 1944, the union had their first female president, Alex Kilroy who fought to abolish the marriage bar for female civil servants. In the 1970s, the FDA fought discrimination against gay and lesbian staff. Other initiatives include negotiating equal survivor pension benefits and challenging bullying and harassment of civil servants.^[13]

The union describes itself as "FDA - the union of choice for senior managers and professionals in public service".^[9] Despite often being known, particularly in the British press, as the "First Division Association",^[15] the legal name is "FDA".

Leadership

The Executive Committee

• Margaret Haig, President elected 2024
• Leila Kelly, Vice President elected 2022
• Beatriz Brown, Vice President elected 2022

• John McCullagh, Treasurer elected 2023

The FDA team

• Dave Penman, General Secretary elected 2012, 2016 & 2021
• Lauren Crowley, Assistant General Secretary from 2024
• Alice Hood, Assistant General Secretary from 2025
• Lynne Gravatt, Assistant General Secretary (Head of Resources) from 2018
• Adrian Prandle, Assistant General Secretary from 2025
• Lucille Thirlby, Assistant General Secretary from 2018

General Secretary

Dave Penman, formerly Deputy General Secretary, was elected unopposed as General Secretary in May 2012 ^[16] and took up office from July 2012.

His immediate predecessors were Jonathan Baume (1997-2012) (who had previously been Assistant General Secretary and Deputy General Secretary), Elizabeth Symons^[17] (1989–96) and John Ward (1980–88). The first full-time General Secretary was Norman Ellis, appointed in 1974.^[18]

In 1996, the then Labour Party leader Tony Blair was criticised after he nominated the outgoing FDA General Secretary Liz Symons for a peerage.^[17]

See also

• Organized labour portal

• British Civil Service
• Managers in Partnership (MIP)
• Trade Union