Speak up for Tuesday 23 January involving all 28 affiliates with members across the public
sector The Speak up for Public Services lobby starts at 11.30am, and the rally across Parliament Square in Methodist Central Hall,
at midday. A TUC co-ordinated rally and lobby of Parliament Terry Conway 2007 not only opens with the ballot for merger between Amicus and TGWU, but will see the playing out of the announcement that Amicus has itself "signed agreements with the German engineering union IG-Metall and two of the largest labour organisations in the US, the United Steelworkers and the International Association of Machinists, to prevent companies playing off their workforces in different countries against each other." (Observer Dec 31)
At first glance it would seem to make sense that trade unionists would be in favour of bigger organisations - because they would be more effective at defending our interests against those of the bosses.
But as a member of UNISON, the product of a merger between three pre-existing unions, and a former member of both Amicus and TGWU in different parts of my working life, my experience suggests we should be cautious.
Mergers have been used by the bureaucrats at the top to make it even harder to fight for effective lay member control.
Full time officials ignore the decisions of elected union structures such as conterences and cook up cosy deals with the employers.
Increased attacks on conditions mean that many activists are increasingly exhausted by their job itself, while others are tied up fighting individual cases of victimisation, harassment etc.
In terms of international cooperation, of course we are in favour of developing that, especially when it comes to industrial action.
We have seen many instances especially in manufacturing, where its absence is used by the employers to move jobs across national borders in order reduce costs. Internationalism is essential for effective trade
But these links should be under the control of workplace committees which are elected and recallable, rather than imposed from above in a way that is either meant to talk left while doing nothing, or even worse to strangle the possibility of real and effective connections.
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