12 Jan 2005
Nashville, Tennessee--Two of the nation's largest industrial unions are merging, banking that their combined resources will give the new organisation unprecedented political and bargaining clout.
The executive boards of the United Steelworkers of America and the Paper, Allied-Industrial, Chemical and Energy Workers International Union voted unanimously for the merger, the unions announced Jan. 11. The new union will be called the United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied-Industrial and Service Workers International Union.
USWA and PACE members will vote on the merger at concurrent conventions in April.
The combined union will oversee 850,000 active members in more than 8,000 bargaining units in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean region. Active and retiree membership will be more than 1.25 million people.
The new union will be the dominant labor organization in North America within the metals, paper and forestry products, tire and rubber, mining, glass, chemicals, energy and other basic resource industries, according to PACE and the USWA. It also will have a strong presence in equipment and machinery, stone, clay and concrete, transportation, utilities and the service sector.
Press release from USWA
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