The role of organised labour in South Africa's public sector is undergoing renewed scrutiny amid persistent service delivery failures, institutional reform delays, and concerns about administrative performance. Traditional approaches to union engagement, particularly the practice of simply "bringing the union in", are increasingly being questioned in relation to their continued relevance in a modern and responsive public service. Drawing on Critical Theory, Institutional Theory and Conflict Theory, this study examines how power relations, institutional routines, competing interests and entrenched administrative norms shape union activism and public sector performance. Critical Theory assists in examining unequal power relations and the extent to which organised labour challenges or reproduces them. Institutional Theory explains how formal rules, informal conventions and path-dependent practices sustain bureaucratic inertia. Conflict Theory adds a useful lens for understanding organised labour as a contested space shaped by struggles over authority, representation, bargaining power and institutional influence. The study adopted a mixed-methods design within a pragmatic paradigm and targeted 500 public servants from selected provincial government departments, municipalities and public entities in the Eastern Cape. An achieved sample of 348 participants (69.6%) was obtained and used for analysis. Emerging findings point to concerns about political influence, leadership interests, union fragmentation and the extent to which labour disputes may hinder effective service delivery. These findings suggest that organised labour's symbolic and historical relevance does not automatically translate into an effective contribution to public sector reform, accountability and institutional performance. The study therefore offers evidence-based recommendations for recalibrating union-state relations in ways that strengthen responsiveness, legitimacy, accountability and service delivery.