Building union investigates merger


The 60,000-member construction union UCATT is considering a merger, the union has confirmed. 


A spokesperson told Labour Research: “The union is undertaking preliminary discussions with a number of organisations while at the same time examining all the options of remaining an independent union.” The union has not disclosed which organisations it has met. 


The announcement comes after UCATT incurred a net deficit of £3.55 million in 2014, leading the union’s auditors to “cast significant doubt about the union’s ability to continue as a going concern”.


UCATT also reported an almost 30% fall in the number of paying members between 2013 and 2014 — from 87,000 to just over 61,000. However, this perhaps reflects in part a “tidying up” of its membership records, as the fall in subscription income from members between 2013 and 2014 was just 3.8%.