T&G and Amicus unions plan to merge

The Transport and General Workers Union (T&G) is set to merge with Amicus, the engineering and technical union.

The leaders of both unions have agreed the merger in principle; now it must be ratified by a ballot of members. This should be complete by March - if it supports the merger the new union will come into being on 1 May with a combined membership of two million.

Amicus has very few members in the transport sector but both unions say an enlarged union will have more power and influence. A T&G spokesman adds that the new union, which has yet to be named, will invest a higher proportion of its income in recruitment. "This could well mean expanding our membership in the transport business," the spokesman adds.

T&G general secretary Tony Woodley says: "A united union will mean an end to divide-and-rule and the cancer of inter-union competition which has only helped the bosses in one sector after another. A growing union, investing in organising, will give more power to the elbow of our shopfloor representatives everywhere."