| Biography | The Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom, representing civil servants.
The union was founded in 1921, when the Civil Service Clerical Union and the Clerical Officers' Association merged to form the Civil Service Clerical Association. It affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Labour Party and had around 16,000 members.[1] Its Dublin branch left the following year, to form the Civil and Public Services Union.
Following the 1926 United Kingdom general strike, the Trade Disputes and Trade Unions Act 1927 was passed, requiring government employees to disaffiliate from political parties and trades union confederations, compelling the union to leave the Labour Party and the TUC. It rejoined the TUC in 1946.
In 1969, the union renamed itself as the "Civil and Public Services Association". In 1973, the Ministry of Labour Staff Association joined the CPSA, while in 1974 the Court Officers Association joined.
In 1980, the CPSA published a history of its first 75 years, entitled "From Humble Petition to Militant Action".
In 1985, the union's Postal and Telecommunications Group left to merge with the Post Office Engineering Union, forming the National Communications Union.
The CPSA merged with the Public Services, Tax and Commerce Union in 1998, forming the Public and Commercial Services Union.
Archive held at the University of Warwick. |