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We all benefit from diversity In March 2001, five German labor unions voted to merge to create the United Services Union. The new union will represent three million workers in the service industry. The new union will be larger than the German engineer's union, which has approximately 2.6 million members. Two reasons for merging given by union leaders were that more firms are trying to sidestep collective wage bargaining, and that the merger will provide for a bigger strike war chest. The unions that merged consisted of a public service and transport union; a media union; trade, banking and insurance unions, and the postal workers' union. The new union is already nicknamed the "mammoth" by the German press. Diversity is one of the UTU's themes at this year's Regional Meetings. That term, as commonly used, usually applies to the make-up of people. However, as was done in Germany, it also means the diversity of different unions with different crafts coming together to form bigger, stronger and more powerful unions. That is not an easy thing to accomplish, but in the face of continuing mergers of major corporations, shouldn't American unions also continue to look for merger partners, whether big or small, and try to make it work? Won't that help ensure that unions, big or small, will remain strong and will be able to endure through the constant struggles they face with employers now and in the future? In my opinion, consolidation is needed so that our smaller locals and unions will still be able to continue their struggles with their employers knowing the support of the "mammoth union" is there. |
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B.J. McNelis (L-1594) |
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