There is an industrial logic to the merger of the Transport and General Workers Union and Amicus, but is that what is driving it?
It takes more than unity to create strength
WORKERS, JUNE 2007 ISSUE
On 1 May 2007 – six years after the merger of the AEU and MSF – the union Amicus teamed up with the Transport & General Workers' Union to create Britain's biggest union, Unite, with two million members. The new rulebook will be drawn up by November 2008, and may outlaw such agreements as binding arbitration and no-strike deals.
Had the GMB remained in the frame as originally envisaged, the union would be even bigger. Voting for the merger was on a 27 per cent turnout from each of the two unions – in other words, 73 per cent didn't bother to vote at all. Consultation among TGWU members revealed that they wanted a union that was "not just bigger but better". Members of both unions were clearly not convinced that this would be the case.
The new union's assets are valued at £200 million. This includes £150 million per annum from membership subscriptions, to be spent, it is claimed, "at the sharp end, supporting the members". As an immediate priority, £7.5 million is said to have been earmarked for organising and recruitment, rising after three years to £15 million. Although the AEU/MSF merger that created Amicus was intended to boost recruitment, the unions admit that this has not been effective so far. So the strategy seems to be – carry on merging until the refusal of employers to recognise unions has been overcome.
Unite will be based on ten regions – seven in England, plus Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Industrial sectors will be based on the existing 14 TGWU trade groups and Amicus sectors, with autonomy over the conduct of their own business and flexibility for autonomous professional bodies within the sectors. The biennial conferences established in Amicus for each sector will apply to the new union, alternating with a biennial policy conference of the whole union. The emphasis is on lay democracy, accountability of the NEC and full-time officials, with a preference for robust workplace branch organisation.
Strengths and weaknesses
As with the AEU/MSF merger, there are both strengths and weaknesses in amalgamation. There is an industrial logic to unions that campaign and bargain together pooling their energies and resources against the rampant capitalism of the multinational companies. Merger within one country also puts a stop to unnecessary duplication and to competition for membership between the unions involved. On the other hand, when it is a handful of trade union leaders rather than the members driving a merger, the likelihood is that the motives are misguided and over-ambitious. This appears to be the case with this latest merger. Tony Woodley of the TGWU and Derek Simpson of Amicus gave the game away when they thanked members for their support for the "NEC's position". Shouldn't it be the other way round?
The truth is that a merger strategy has been developed based on a belief in the powerlessness of ordinary members. There are some shadowy figures from the TUC and ETUC behind this, including former TUC general secretary John Monks, who has never made a secret of his desire to reduce the number of British trade unions in order to create "a new model of a European trade union".
Six years ago this was tied in with TUC commitment to the euro, but ordinary members scuppered that idea, proving that they are not so powerless after all. The EU regionalisation of Britain is however still reflected in the union structure, and union resources are to be used for organising "in the UK and Ireland – and mergers abroad".
Expansionist thoughts
Both Amicus and the TGWU traditionally organise throughout Ireland, and a merger with the German steel union IG Metall is never far from the expansionist thoughts of the leadership.
Added to this, on 18 April 2007 in Ottawa – before formal merger and without consulting members in Britain – Amicus, the TGWU, and the Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers (USW) announced plans to create the first Trans-Atlantic "global super union" representing 3.4 million workers in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland, an agreement which follows a secretive Strategic Alliance signed between Amicus and the USW two years ago. In December 2006, Amicus said it had signed agreements with the USW, the US-based International Association of Machinists and IG Metall that are aimed at an eventual merger – again, most union members were unaware of this inexorable drive to go global.
In a joint statement, the three unions say: "We envision building a true global union by expanding our commitments to include other unions across the globe". You could be forgiven for thinking this was taking the expression "the world of work" just a little too literally.
On the face of it, these mergers might appear to represent a necessary show of international solidarity. The reality is, however, that for all the talk of putting the union in the hands of the members, the "senior officers" propelling this forward have no faith in the ability of members to conduct a struggle against its own capitalist class in the place where they live and work, let alone cooperate with fellow workers abroad.
So Tony Woodley says: "Winning for members...is no longer a game that is solely played out at local and national levels." [Note – under the "New Union Concept", winning in this "game" is something unions do for their members, not something the members do for themselves.]
In Ottawa the USW President Leo W. Gerard described his union, which represents rubber and paper as well as steel workers, as a "truly international union" that has alliances with Australia, Brazil and Mexico as well as Britain and Germany. He had just signed a merger agreement with the Independent Steelworkers Union, which represents 1,150 workers at Mittal Steel in West Virginia.
There are some serious questions to be raised in all of this cosying up to the rest of the world – questions of national security, the integrity of British unions, and not least the use to which members' money will be put. A considerable amount of that money will be spent on an exchange of officers every three months to develop integration, as well as their attendance at conferences and other activities. A Merger Exploration Committee consisting of five officers from each union supported by technical staff will be paid to work on a legal and structural framework for 12 months. Members' money has also been committed to such projects as support of Columbian trade unionists, the ship breakers of India, and to building links with workers in Chinese transnational corporations.
Back in Britain
Meanwhile, back in Britain, the working class struggles under the weight of EU legislation such as the Services Directive and proposals to undermine collective bargaining. The fruitless search for homes and jobs continues for many, and wages continue to fall as a direct result of liberalisation and the free movement of labour. The TUC remains wedded to EU policies on migrant labour, which work against the interests of trade union members and in favour of the employers, including the multinationals.
British unions should look to their own backyard before embarking on adventures further afield.