GMB pulls out of ‘super union’ merger talks

In June 2006, the planned merger of three major UK trade unions – Amicus, the GMB and the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU) – which would result in the creation of a ‘super union’ with some 2.5 million members was thrown into disarray when the move was rejected by delegates at the GMB’s annual conference. Amicus and the TGWU expressed disappointment concerning the GMB’s decision, but confirmed that they would go ahead with the merger.

Talks started in early 2005 over a merger between three of the UK’s four largest trade unions – Amicus (1,160,000 members, according to the latest figures from the Certification Officer), the GMB general union (570,000 members) and the Transport and General Workers’ Union (TGWU, 810,000 members). Union consolidation through mergers has been an accelerating trend since the 1990s (UK0410105F) against a background of continuing decline in union membership (UK0504109F). Amicus, for example, was formed from the merger of the AEEU engineering and electrical union and the MSF manufacturing and finance union in 2002 (UK9912142N) and has since merged with the Graphical, Paper and Media Union and the UNIFI finance union. Other recent large-scale mergers include that between NATFHE – The University & College Lecturers’ Union and the Association of University Teachers (AUT) to form the 116,000-strong University and College Union (UCU) in June 2006 (UK0601103N).

Among the factors cited in support of the Amicus-GMB-TGWU merger were the creation of a union strong and large enough to deal with increasingly globalised businesses, and the achievement of greater political influence on the Labour Party. Between them, the three unions have over a quarter of the votes at Labour Party conferences, as well as some 40% of the votes at the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

GMB vote

Following lengthy talks in a merger working group over a blueprint for a ‘super union’ with some 2.5 million members, the GMB central executive council decided – after consulting its regional and branch structures – that it did ‘not believe that continuing on with the merger process would command the support of the wider membership’. Consequently, at the union’s annual conference on 11–15 June 2006, the council recommended to delegates that the GMB should continue ‘to develop a new union … but this we will do independently at this time’. The 500 delegates accepted this recommendation overwhelmingly, thus ending the GMB’s participation in the merger process.

The GMB General Secretary, Paul Kenny, reportedly told delegates that there was a ‘massive hunger’ for change and success within the union. However, he added: ‘It became clear that while there may have been hunger for change, there was not an appetite for this merger. We extend our very best wishes to the TGWU and Amicus in their future discussions.’

According to commentators, the decision to pull out of the merger was influenced by fears among the GMB’s regional structures that they would lose influence and independence in a merged union. The GMB has a strong regional organisational basis, while Amicus and the TGWU are more centralised. Another possible factor influencing the pull-out is that the GMB’s financial situation, which was poor when the merger talks started, has since improved.

Amicus and TGWU press ahead with merger

Despite the GMB’s decision, the other two unions are to continue with their projected merger. The General Secretary of the TGWU, Tony Woodley, and General Secretary of Amicus, Derek Simpson, issued the following joint statement:

Obviously, we are disappointed at this decision, which we regard as a missed opportunity for the GMB. However, we fully respect the GMB’s democratic decision and will continue to work closely with our sister union for the benefit of all our members. The TGWU and Amicus will now proceed with our planned creation of a new union to meet the great challenges facing working people in the 21st century – a democratic and campaigning union which will fight back for employees in the workplace, will take trade unionism out to the millions of unorganised workers, will stand up for equality for all and advance its members’ interests politically.

An Amicus–TGWU merger would create a trade union with nearly two million members, becoming thus the UK’s biggest union. It would surpass the Unison public services union, which has a membership of 1,310,000 people. It is hoped that the merged organisation – which has the working title ‘New Union’ – will be in place by early 2007.

Mark Carley, SPIRE Associates/IRRU