Leaders at the GMB trade union vowed yesterday to “leave no stone unturned” in their fight against private equity as their biggest opponents, CVC and Permira, pocketed a fortune by merging the AA with Saga.

The GMB has made the AA a cause celèbre, claiming that CVC and Permira have asset-stripped since buying “the fourth emergency service” in 2004.

Paul Maloney, the GMB’s national secretary, said that the union would not rest until it had secured a social and economic statement from the new group and assurances over how it was going to be run the merged company.

He added: “CVC and Permira can put their head in the sand and refuse to talk to us but they can rest assured we will leave no stone unturned until we expose the myth that private equity is good for the British economy.

“We will be watching every deal and no politician will be able to sleep easy.”

The GMB’s campaign has already this year led to an inquiry by MPs on the Treasury Select Committee.

The AA Democratic Union, which has 4,000 members among the AA’s 7,200-strong workforce, called for an urgent meeting with Saga amid concerns that hundreds of jobs could go as the new group looks to cut costs.

Alistair MacLean, AADU national secretary, added that he wanted guarantees that the AA’s £1.2 billion final salary pension scheme would be safe.

Mr MacLean said: “This has come as a shock and staff are concerned and anxious.

“Hundreds of jobs could be at risk. We know that two years ago the AA was considering whether to offshore 2,300 back-office roles. They decided not to but that potential for hundreds of job cuts is still there.”

He said that the main concerns centred on an integration of Saga and the AA’s administrative and IT functions. Savings could also come by merging the two companies insurance operations.

The AA’s insurance division is spread across two offices in Newcastle and Cardiff.

Mr MacLean ruled out an alliance with the GMB, which was supplanted at the AA by the AADU in 2005, but still claims to have huge support among its roadside patrols.

He said: “They have made sure the AA has had more media coverage this year than the Iraq war but they only have 100 members.”

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