ONE BIG UNION

LABOUR GOES GLOBAL - with "WORKERS UNITING".


The UK's biggest union Unite, the product of last year's merger
between the Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) and Amicus,
is definitely merging with a Union in North America.

The agreement between Unite and the United Steelworkers' union (USW),
is to be formally signed in "days".

The combined group has more than three million members
in the UK, the US, Canada and the Caribbean.

Talks were held last month in London to thrash out
details of the world's first transatlantic union.

Andrew Murray;
"We are dealing with global companies that can move capital
- and employment - around the world at will in many cases.
While big business is global and labour is national,
we are going to be at a disadvantage."


Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite,
urges other unions, from Poland to Australia,
to join "Workers Uniting".

The president of USW, Leo W Gerard, says the
merger is necessary to counter "the growing
power of global capital".

"Globalisation has given financiers licence to
exploit workers in developing countries at the
expense of our members in the developed world," he says.

"Only global solidarity among workers can overcome
this sort of global exploitation wherever it occurs."


Labour unions from Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America,
are also talking about some form of co-operation.




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