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03-Jul-08 11:30 [Americas]
UK and US unions sign merger The UK's biggest workers union Unite and the United Steelworkers of America (USW) have signed an agreement to form the first global union.
It is to be called Workers Uniting and will represent three million working people from every industrial sector in Britain, Ireland, the USA, Canada and the Caribbean.
As a result of the merger joint political campaigning will become possible, the bodies noted.
"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," stated Derek Simpson, joint general secretary of Unite.
He added that a process of addressing issues such as the rich/poor pay gap will be facilitated by the signing of the agreement.
It was announced that the merger had taken a year to complete and will be signed at the USW's Constitutional Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Unite recently announced that local government workers in the UK are to take industrial action in July over a pay increase dispute.
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