Amicus to Sign Solidarity Agreements with German and American Unions

Amicus is seeking to build on its forthcoming likely merger with the T&GWU by building close links with a number of major unions in other countries. In order to achieve this objective, Amicus has recently stated that it is planning to sign solidarity agreements with IG Metall, the German engineering union, and with two large American unions, the United Steelworkers and the International Association of Machinists.

This is not the first occasion that Amicus has sought to build closer links with overseas unions, particularly IG Metall, in an attempt to force multinational companies to deal with one union rather than a number of unions in the different countries where multinational companies operate.

Commenting on these solidarity agreements, Derek Simpson, the General Secretary of Amicus, is reported as having stated:-

“Our aim is to create a powerful single union that can transcend borders to challenge the global forces of capital. I envisage a functioning, if loosely federal, multinational trade union organisation within the next decade.”