That certainly is what NEC members in Unite think as they lament that the ‘left’ union PCS will be hitched to their ‘right wing’, Labour Party affiliated union.

They forget that the PCS leadership’s desire for merger is not driven by politics per se; it is driven by business considerations. Our leadership have calculated that PCS will go into the red (financially, not politically) in a few years time if we continue to lose members at the current rate.

Therefore if they merge with a financially more robust union then pensions, wages and perks can be preserved. A truly left union would seek to reduce FTO wages, more fully democratise the union, look to more actively recruit in out-sourced areas and in related parts of the private sector, reduce union subs (and grow membership that way) and to fight smarter (no more campaigns that consist of a sterile one day strike).

Therefore Unite members on the NEC don’t have to worry. The PCS leadership, by and large, will fit in very nicely to a merged union.