The world's first global union, according to labor leaders, has been formed from the merger of the United Steelworkers and British union group Unite the Union. The new labor organization will be called Workers Uniting, and will represent over 2.8 million members. The labor group hopes that other unions will follow suit and merge to create an even larger mega-union. Labor experts see the merger as both necessary given the economic state of manufacturing and long overdue, considering the job losses that have occurred in the past several years within this sector.
See "Steelworkers Merge With British Union", Steven Greenhouse, The New York Times, July 2, 2008