Civil Service Union

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 into	National Union of Civil and Public Servants
Founded	1917
Dissolved	1988
Headquarters	5 Praed Street, London[1]
Location	United Kingdom
Members	43,513 (1982)[1]
Publication	The Whip[1]
Affiliations	Trades Union Congress, CCSU

History

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

General Secretaries

1933: Dick Gifford^[7]

1943: Victor Carvell^[7]

1963: John Vickers^[8]

1977: Les Moody

1982: John Sheldon^[9]

Deputy General Secretaries

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

1933: W. Ewart Llewellyn^[7]

1938: George McDouall^[7]

1945: Harold Newton^[7]

1967: Monty Rose^[7]

1984: Margaret Morrison^[7]