http://www.detnews.com/...

The USW signed an agreement this week signaling its intent to merge with two international unions to create the world's largest union, representing more than 3.4 million active and retired members. "The time for global unionism has arrived," said Leo Gerard, president of the Pittsburgh-based United Steelworkers. "We need cross-border organizing strategies to protect workers against the mobility of capital that knows no borders." The two international unions -- Amicus, which represents about 1 million active British workers, and the 800,000-member Transport & General Workers Union representing active British and Irish workers -- already had voted to merge. The agreement signed Wednesday in Ottawa, Canada, allows for the formation of a merger exploration committee, with the goal of merging all three unions within a year.

Labor must mirror Capital in organization strategy; this is reminiscent of the CIO organization in the mid-1930s and could similarly revolutionize organization. When unions started organizing by industry rather than craft, union density rose dramatically. Are you ready for another spike?

What does union density mean for democrats? Among other things, union membership is one of the best demographic indicators of democratic voting! Unions also provide an organizational framework for reaching out to voters effectively.

http://blog.aflcio.org/...

Some important questions remain:

Will they be able to iron out their differences? Where will headquarters be?

Will they be able to intergrate organizations effectively? I've seen union "mergers" that did very little to change the underlying structures.

Most importantly, if the merger is successful, will they be able to take their organizing to india? to china? will they be willing to wildcat and scrap like they did in the early 30s, before the Wagner Act passed? You cannot just create an international organization, you've got to take the fight pan-national!