Civil and Public Services Association
# Civil and Public Services Association

The Civil and Public Services Association (CPSA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom, representing civil servants.

## History

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 (CSCA). It affiliated with the Trades Union Congress (TUC) and the Labour Party and had around 16,000 members. 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 the Civil and Public Services Association. In 1973, the Ministry of Labour Staff Association joined the CPSA, then the Court Officers Association joined in 1974.

In 1980, the CPSA published a history of its first 75 years, 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.

## 1986 General Secretary Election

Militant supporter John Macreadie initially won the ballot. However, the election was blocked and the courts ordered it to be re-run, with John Ellis receiving 42,000 votes, Macreadie 31,000, and the Broad Left '84 candidate, backed by the Communist Party, 13,000.

## General Secretaries

    1921: William Brown
    1942: Len White
    1955: George Green
    1963: Len Wines
    1967: Bill Kendall
    1976: Ken Thomas
    1982: Alistair Graham
    1986: John Ellis
    1992: Barry Reamsbottom
