There is concern in the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists that the possible merger of its parent trade union could result in inadequate support for guild members.
The guild president (Mr Peter Cooke) told The Journal on November 27: "We have concerns about the dilution of the guild and the health care sector in a much larger organisation. We are also concerned about the level of support that we would receive."
Commenting on the possible merger of the guild's parent MSF union with the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, Mr Gerry Looker (national officer, MSF, and section general secretary of the guild) told the guild's group delegates' meeting that the two unions had been working more closely since last year. In effect, they had been courting each other. A meeting of MSF's national executive committee the following week would consider the production of a statement of intent to merge.
He admitted that the possible merger was being driven from the top of the union and that there was hostility from some sections, particularly the manufacturing sections.
Mr Looker encouraged the guild to make sure that it was involved in the process. He said that he intended to keep members fully informed as matters progressed.