Last Tuesday (2 July) a meeting was held for all branch officers and the main topic on the agenda was the future structure of the union.
The GPMU has seen a fall in membership from nearly 300,000 two years ago to just 200,676 now.
GPMU officer Danny Milgate, who was at the meeting, said: "We’re taking a twin track approach. Firstly, we’ll see how we can remain independent. But we can’t leave our members in the lurch. A merger would be a safety net and talking about it now will ensure that the frameworks are in place."
The GPMU will hold a conference in June next year, by which time it believes "major structural changes will need to be put forward".
A spokeman for the TGWU said it had not made any formal arrangements, but believed that by the end of 2002 it would have an agreed position leading to a merger of the two unions.
A possible merger was one of the options put forward for change by GPMU general secretary Tony Dubbins (pictured) last year in an exclusive interview with PrintWeek.
Although he said the union was under no pressure to merge, decisions would have to be made as to whether it becomes a reality.
The proposed changes will involve:
* Structural alteration at branch level, involving possible merger of branches
* A reduction of internal administration costs
The TGWU has 858,800 members, the CWU 300,000 and the AMICUS-AEEU 730,000 members.
Story by Andy Scott and Rachel Barnes
