German giant back on track

Plans to create Germany's and the EU's biggest union, known as Ver.di, through a five-way merger are back on track after a crucial meeting of the biggest of the unions involved.

The executive of the 1.6 million-strong public services union (tm)TV voted by 86% at the end of September to continue to back the merger. Its support had previously been in doubt (see Labour Research, October 2000 page 8). The union executive stated that it saw the goal of creating a new service sector union as "necessary and right". It said that the merger of the five could be achieved by the planned date of March 2001. However, the (tm)TV still has a number of concerns it wants resolved in negotiations with other unions, particularly the role of the regions in

the new structure. (tm)TV's final decision will only be taken at the union's conference later this month.