Alex Kitson may be No. 3
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• If the 20,000 members of the Scottish Commercial Motormen's Union support the long-mooted merger with the Transport and General Workers' Union, Mr Alex Kitson, general secretary of SCMU, will become No. 3—an executive officer—in the giant transport workers' union. Mr Kitson, a former member president of the Scottish TUC and a member of the national executive committee of the Labour Party. has won a considerable reputation, writes John Darker, for political shrewdness, extending well beyond the sphere of road transport. If, as is anticipated, the merger is endorsed, Mr Kitson will be a man to watch in his new role.
The SCMU/TGWU merger talks began more than two years ago. The terms for merging, now accepted by the two executives, provide for the maximum autonomy for the smaller partner. The SCMU name would be retained as a subsidiary title of the Scottish commercial transport group of the TGWU. This trade group will have its own delegate conference every two years. The executive of SCMU would be absorbed within a group committee.
It has been estimated that there are 60,000 commercial vehicle drivers in Scotland, of whom about half are not trade unionists. If the SCMU membership ratifies the merger terms a recruitment drive by the strengthened TGWU in Scotland may be predicted. There will be renewed speculation about the still independent Manchesterbased United Road Transport Union which is known to have spurned past efforts at takeover by the TGWU.