Sally Hunt is right to suggest that the Trade Union movement is weaker because there are sectors where there a number of unions sometimes competing with each other. That isn't good for the movement and it dilutes what we are trying to do.
The argument in the past has been that different Unions had alternative approaches and potential members should have the right to chose where to go. So for example NALGO and then Unison have been the choice for those, like myself, who believe in strong Self Organisation and more local democracy. The other side of the coin shows that some employees chose a union that is cheaper so there were, for example, people I knew in my old Branch, Lambeth Unison, who would join the GMB rather than Unison because the subs were lower.
But all the issues raised by everyone on both sides of the argument have one end result and that is weakening the movement. The 'other side' (employer side) has always been happy to have more than one union around because it means they can divide and rule and this has happend on several occasions in the past and in my own personal experience. I remember distinctly, for example, the long Payroll dispute in 1993 which lasted for 12 weeks where the GMB were not prepared to join in strike action and that, inevitably, created a problem and a rift that was exploited by management.
We need to get serious and consolidate what we have. TU membership has fallen from 13 million to 6.3 million we cannot afford to continue with any internal struggles and our leaders should seriously start talks about merging in sectors where members are represented by one union. We need to concentrate on the long fight ahead of us and we are not going to win if we allow internal divisions and union rivalries. Hoping the TUC will deal with this!
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