The United Steelworkers announced yesterday that it would seek to merge with two large British unions, Amicus and the Transport and General Workers Union, in a move that would form the first trans-Atlantic labor group.þþGathered at a convention in Ottawa, the leaders of the three unions said that they would seek to negotiate a merger within 12 months, with the combined union expected to have more than 2.6 million members.þþ“One of our tasks as trade unions is to defend working people and to advance workers’ conditions, but that’s increasingly difficult within the confines of national boundaries,” the president of the United Steelworkers, Leo W. Gerard, said. “It seems we’re no longer capable of fully confronting and negotiating with these global companies unless we ourselves are organized globally.”þþThe United Steelworkers, based in Pittsburgh, is the largest manufacturing union in the country, representing 850,000 people, including steel workers, rubber workers and paper workers. Amicus represents 980,000 workers, and the Transport and General Workers Union, 800,000. þþIndependent of yesterday’s announcement, Amicus and the Transport and General Workers — which represent workers from many industries — are scheduled to merge May 1, with the combined union to be called Unite. þþUnder an agreement signed yesterday, the unions will set up a committee with five members from each union to study the constitution, rules and structures of a merged union. The unions will sponsor a regular exchange of officers every three months to develop areas of joint work. þþAt a news conference, the unions’ leaders said that they were unable at present to name a merged union, describe its structure or say how members would aid one another in labor disputes. The leaders said they hoped that unions from other countries would ultimately merge with them someday.þþThe three unions said that they might work together on many efforts, among them helping the labor movement in Colombia in the face of continued paramilitary attacks and helping beleaguered workers in India who break down old ships.þþ“Multinational companies are pushing down wages and conditions for workers the world over by playing one national work force off against another,” said Derek Simpson, the general secretary of Amicus. “The only beneficiaries of globalization are the exploiters of working people, and the only way working people can resist this is to band together.”þþIncluding retirees, the merged union would represent 3.4 million members in the United States, Canada, Britain and Ireland.þþ
Souirce: NY Times
