March 1999 Volume 80 Number 3 "serving the protectors"
Local Service Area: A Misnomer
By Bernadette Zimmermann  PASA Executive Committee Member

January 1999 will certainly go down in my book as being one of the most confusing months I have spent in my career of nearly 18 years. The uncertainty of my own role in SAPOL - let alone that of so many others, who are also struggling to understand where they fit in the implementation of the various local service areas - has become a distraction.

I have never really understood the use of the word “local” in LSA. For me, they are more “regional” than local. I’m sure many of you would agree, especially those who worked the old sector system in the previous regions, then known as Regions B, C and D. But, time will tell, and, as I’ve heard far too often lately, members will make it work, regardless of its merits. We seem to have a pre-condition for this kind of behaviour. I hope our commandos (this is not a typo) appreciate the effort.

The start of February 1999 was somewhat more soothing. Members will appreciate that their executive representatives undertook an EA98 debrief on the 3rd, which was facilitated by Greg Chilvers of the NSW Police Association. Chilvers certainly had a knack for getting us to dredge up all kinds of memories of the lead-in to EA98 which, incidentally, started in 1996. The benefit of this exercise was apparent long before Chilvers left us. All in all, I’m pleased to be able to tell you that we did okay. It is no surprise that attention to everything, from the political to the financial, can never be under-estimated.

Notes from the debrief included a list of key issues that unions need to constantly be working toward. Briefly, Chilvers grouped them as:

• A strategic plan - for specifics and general matters.
• Maintaining an integrated approach to all activities.
• A management style that is both consultative and participative.
• Provision of adequate information.
• A commitment to education and training.
• Nurturing an innovative culture.
• Evaluation through performance indicators.
• Appropriate use of bench marking.
• EEO programmes.
• Regular investment in new technology.
• Work redesign.
• Commitment to research grounded projects.

Of interest was the warning that unions need to be vigilant against copying authoritarian management styles which are so often displayed by various employers. The above issues would be familiar to many of you who have studied the management of organisations, but I personally can see our future success will have a lot to do with the last key issue. And so... EB3 begins.

12-point key-issues list from Unions 2001 a Blueprint for Trade Union Activism.