United Steelworkers - Transoceanic Merger

Transoceanic Merger

In early April 2007, the BBC announced that Amicus, then the United Kingdom's second-largest trade union, was to begin discussions with the USW about a possible merger. Amicus subsequently merged with the British Transport and General Workers Union to form the new union Unite. Unite and the USW continued the merger talks initiated by Amicus.

In May 2008, the unions announced that they were putting the "finishing touches" on the merger, that the merger had been endorsed by Unite officials, and that the USW would discuss the plan at its forthcoming convention in July. Once completed, the new merged entity would represent more than 3 million workers in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and the Caribbean. The unions have further announced that the new entity would target further mergers with labor groups in Australia and in the emerging economies of Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe. On July 2, 2008, USW and Unite leadership formally signed the merger agreement to create the new entity, to be called Workers Uniting.

The merger creates the first transoceanic trade union since the 1930s (when the IWW was the largest international trade union), and also creates one of the world's largest trade unions. The purpose of the merger is to globalize the labor movement in the era of multinational corporations.