BECTU rules out union mergers
BECTU's Soho office now sold
Delegates to BECTU's annual conference have voted unanimously against a proposal for the union to seek a merger partner.
The conference motion, submitted by a branch to the conference in Liverpool on June 4, called on BECTU to "investigate the possibilities for a merger with a like-minded union" and report to members by mid-2006.
Speaking in the debate on behalf of the union's National Executive Committee, Assistant General Secretary Martin Spence said: "BECTU is, and will remain, a small specialist union serving members who have needs which are very specific, and sometimes unique.
"Our future does not lie with the two or three super-unions who hope to dominate the labour movement by taking over smaller organisations", said Spence.
Members who sponsored the motion had cited a fall in BECTU membership levels, and the financial strain of moving the union's head office to South London, as justification for a merger.
However, figures presented to the conference revealed that the union had recruited more than 4,000 new members in 2004, not counting the full effect of a surge in membership applications in BECTU's BBC division, where 900 staff joined in April and May 2005.
The finance report to conference also brought good news for delegates - the union's move to a new office in Clapham had been completed with the sale of BECTU's previous building in Wardour Street, Soho, for £3.2 million.
Despite being fully refurbished after the union moved out in 2002, the central London office had lain empty for more than 18 months without attracting tenants or would-be purchasers.
Further cash income was expected from a property development at the rear of the new Clapham office, which was approved by Lambeth Council on June 7, and guarantees BECTU a minimum of £614,000.
According to Martin Spence, rounding off the conference debate, BECTU is "proud to remain small but fiesty".