TGWU dockers' and drivers' sections to merge?
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by Jahn Darker
• There is growing speculation in industrial relations circles that the docks and general haulage sections of the Transport and General Workers' Union will shortly be merged, at least for negotiating purposes. The names of two officers tipped to bring about this near-miracle are Mr Alan Law and Mr Tom Cronin.
Mr Law needs no introduction to road hauliers in the Midlands, for his name is a legend. Mr Tom Cronin is an experienced London Docks officer.
The two men named — if current rumours prove to be true — are both strong personalities who would stand some chance of effectively "mixing it" with the more extreme militants whose recent actions have made all the running in dockland.
The projected union move follows a recent meeting of the docks' and drivers' sections at which there was agreement to align objectives. The spectacle of drivers and dockers at odds with each other has caused intense embarrassment to the union leadership recently. The You out, us in" mentality exhibited in the Chohham Farm dibaele flies in the face of old-style trade union fraternity.