THE creation of the first transatlantic super-union has come a step closer after talks in London last week aimed at a virtual merger between Unite, Britain’s biggest union, and America’s United Steelworkers.

The two groups now hope to have a framework for the deal ready in time for the United Steelworkers’ annual conference in July.

A merger would represent a significant shift by organised labour in its efforts to come to terms with the globalisation of business and the proliferation of cross-border takeovers.

Together the unions would have about 3m members in Britain, America, Canada and the Caribbean.

“Talks are moving forward. We are trying to create the first properly global union. Global companies are commonplace now and we need to respond,” said a Unite spokesman.

The transatlantic tie-up was first mooted a year ago. Leo Gerard, president of the United Steelworkers, flew to London last week for talks with Derek Simpson and Tony Woodley, joint general secretaries of Unite.

Loose international alliances of unions — often based on individual industries — have existed for decades. Unite and the United Steelworkers, however, plan a much deeper link, with a single umbrella organisation sitting above the two national bodies.

It is unlikely that the two bodies will be able immediately to complete a full merger, as trade-union legislation differs considerably between the countries. “There are legal requirements that will mean the two constituent organisations will have to stay in existence, but we intend to function like a single union as much as is possible,” said one source.

It is thought the new organisation will at first be run by a committee of members from each of the founding organisations, but will eventually have a single, unified management structure and single leader.

Both organisations are themselves the creation of mergers between smaller unions. Unite, which has 2m members, is the product of successive mergers between the AEEU and MSF unions to create Amicus, which later joined with Unifi and the GPMU.

Last year, in the biggest British union amalgamation to date, Amicus joined forces with the Transport and General Workers’ Union to create Unite.

Only about one-fifth of United Steelworkers members now work in the steel business. In 2005, it became one of America’s largest industrial union groups when it teamed up with the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union.

It is unclear yet how the new transatlantic union will exploit its reach and bargaining power in talks with multinational employers, and to what extent workers will be able to support fellow union members in other countries effectively.

It is understood, however, that the group plans to tackle common issues, including the rise of private-equity firms as large employers in industrial companies.

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