Unite and USW create first global trade union.

Unite, the UK’s biggest union and the USW, the largest private sector union in the USA and Canada, has signed an agreement creating the first global union.

The union, to be called Workers Uniting, will represent three million working people from every industrial sector in Britain, Ireland, the USA, Canada and the Caribbean.

The agreement to form a global union was initiated by the leaders of the two unions in response to the challenges of Globalisation.  In particular, the casualisation of employment and reductions in pay and conditions for millions of working people in North America and Europe.

A year in the making, the agreement will lead to the synchronisation of collective bargaining in companies with operations on both sides of the Atlantic.  It will also enable joint political campaigning. Unite is the Labour Party’s biggest affiliate and donor and the USW is a major contributor to and supporter of the Democrats in America and the New Democrats in Canada.

Derek Simpson, Joint General Secretary of Unite said, “The political and economic power of multi national companies is formidable.  They are able to play one nation’s workers off against another to maximise profits.  They do the same with governments hence the growing gap between the rich and the rest of us.  With this agreement we can finally begin the process of closing that gap.”

Leo W Gerard, USW President said, “This union is crucial for challenging the growing power of global capital.  “Globalization has given financiers license to exploit workers in developing countries at the expense of our members in the developed world.  Only global solidarity among workers can overcome this sort of global exploitation wherever it occurs.”

Tony Woodley, Joint General Secretary of Unite said, “This agreement will enable us to use our considerable resources to organise workers from new and growing sectors at home and in developing counties.  There will be no more no go areas for trade unions.”

The merger document will be signed at the USW’s Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 2nd 2008. 

Workers Uniting will be a fully functional and registered trade union organisation in the UK, U.S., Ireland and Canada, with the ability to fully represent all of the members of its founding unions. It will be governed by a Steering Committee with equal membership from each participating union.

The new union’s staff will be headed by an Executive Director who will oversee an initial budget of several million dollars. The staff will include: Research, International Affairs, and Communications specialists.