Members of a UK and Irish transport union have voted overwhelmingly to merge with a US counterpart.
In a vote, 85% of TSSA members supported joining the larger International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, which the leadership hopes will take place in July.
TSSA Secretary General Manuel Cortes said a merger would “bring strength and security… at a time when our members need support”.
Officials are meeting later this month to discuss how it might work.
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Currently, the TSSA, which represents workers including dispatchers, engineers, travel agents, train attendants, ticket offices and gate workers, has around 18,000 members, while the IBB has more than 50,000 members.
Approximately 4,322 (85%) of the TSSA members who participated in the vote favored a merger, while 767 (15%) voted against. Voter turnout was 32%.
Mr Cortes said: “Our members and activists have said loud and clear that they support the proposed merger with the Boilermakers. The merger will bring strength and security to our TSSA union at a time when our members need support.
“Our union’s leadership will now flex our collective shoulders to respond to the wishes of our members in making the proposed merger a reality.”
There has been a movement towards merged unions in recent decades, but international links have remained rather informal.
In 2009, the two seafaring unions of Nautilus – based in the UK and the Netherlands – merged to form Nautilus International.
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