T&G delegates win backing for merger recall conference

Delegates at last month's conference of the 800,000-strong T&G general union insisted on a full debate on the union's planned merger with Amicus and the GMB at a recall conference.

Once that was accepted by the union's leadership, conference approved a statement from the T&G's general executive council (GEC) pressing ahead with merger discussions.

The talks involve the 1.2 million-member Amicus, whose members span manufacturing, technical and professional and finance staff. The 570,000-member GMB general union, has also recently confirmed it will join the discussions. The plan is for the new union to be established in January 2007.

The GEC pointed out that such a merger would create a union with some 2.5 million members, by far the largest in the country, with annual membership income of around £200 million.

General secretary Tony Woodley called on delegates "not to miss the moment" and to "create a progressive giant that will dominate the 21st century".

He said the T&G had its own minimum requirements for the negotiations, namely that the new union should:

* be based on "inviolable lay democracy";

* be an organising union; and

* "have equality at its heart".

Many delegates expressed concern at the prospect that they would only be given merger details at a late stage of the discussions. After considering these concerns, Woodley agreed that a recall delegate conference would take place before the merger plans were presented for a membership ballot.