One Big Union in Britain and Ireland. A united front in Britain and the North of Ireland on the labour front

Craft unions carry the most power in the trade union movement but general unions are the leaven that lifts the dough. Both eventually go their separate ways unless they are in a centrally controlled union.

I was the first to assert at 3/41 (Amalgamated Transport and General Workers Union, Ireland,later Unite the Union) that we form one big union in Britain and the North of Ireland with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union to consolidate the bargaining power of all blue collar workers. 

I later proposed one big general union for Britain and Ireland.

I also proposed community membership to carve out a political role as defenders of the poor and unemployed in opposition to the imperialist warmongering of Blair's Labour Party with the consequence that Unite the Union has also become the real voice of the working class,the unemployed and marginalised. Those ideas were widely broadcast and taken forward by others. I have  only ever been a lay member of a trade union.

Joseph Paul Mc Carroll ATGWU/Unite 1/5/1999 ff.