Super unions flex their muscles

Employers were warned yesterday of the potential power of new European super-unions which could be developed in the wake of Britain's signature to the Social Chapter.

At the first union conference since the general election, workers' leaders from Britain and the Continent declared the new Euro-unions would be able to raise employees' living standards throughout Europe.

Ken Jackson, general secretary of the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, said working hours would be at the top of the agenda.

Speaking at his union's annual conference in Jersey, he said the AEEU and the IG Metal, the biggest union in Europe, were forging closer links and intended to address the gap in working time between Britain and Germany, where IG Metal is based. British engineering workers are on a 37-39 hour week while their German colleagues work 35 hours.

Mr Jackson said he was keen to ensure co-operation over measures to enhance job security. Employers in Britain will be concerned that wages could be next on the agenda; German engineering workers earn about 15 per cent more than their UK counterparts.

Strong links between the AEEU and IG Metal would give members a "hell of a powerful voice," Mr Jackson said.

He predicted that in 10 to 20 years most unions in Europe would be linked by tight federal structures and there would be several "pan-European" unions.

Addressing the conference, Hans Fluger, general secretary of the 8-million- member European Metalworkers Federation, invoked the recent dispute at Renault as a model for future co-operation.

After the company threatened to close a plant in Belgium, unrest spread to France, Spain and the Netherlands. It was the first Euro-strike. "We are tied together and we can do it together," he said.