A PENSIONER from northwest London has blocked the creation of the UK’s largest private sector union after lodging an eleventh-hour appeal to a union watchdog introduced by the Conservatives.

The collapse of the much-vaunted merger between Amicus and Unifi, the banking union, left union officials red-faced yesterday after it emerged they had jumped the gun with an announcement to the press.

The formation of the new super-union was announced on Tuesday. However, officials from Amicus and Unifi admitted yesterday that the Certification Officer, who makes sure that trade unions stay on the right side of the law, had been been unable to sign off the merger because of a last-minute complaint from a union member.

The intervention means that the formation of the super-union, with 1.2 million members, could be delayed by up to six months.

The Unifi member, a former NatWest banker, is understood to have complained to the Certification Officer about the way Unifi members were balloted on the merger. The member is also thought to have complained about the nature of information distributed by the union at the time of the ballot.

Behind the unexpected hitch is thought to be unhappiness on the part of Unifi members that Amicus rules discriminate against pensioners by preventing them from sitting on the union’s ruling body.

High levels of early retirement in the financial services sector mean that many “retired” bank workers are still active in their union.

A spokesman for Unifi last night said the hitch was just a “technical difficulty” and would only delay the merger. He added that the two bodies would continue to work together as planned.

The Certification Officer said that it hoped to hold a formal hearing of the member’s complaint in September. However, a complaint can take up to six months to be heard.