Two of Ireland's largest British-based unions are merging and will transform the industrial relations scene. The new union is especially well placed to expand in the new technology sector of the economy.
The new union, which still has no name, also poses a major challenge to SIPTU and other Irish-based unions by offering a "one-stop shop" for employees and employers.
Members of MSF and the Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union have voted by four to one for the merger. MSF represents 350,000 workers in technical, professional, management and supervisory occupations, while the AEEU represents 750,000 skilled bluecollar workers such as fitters, plumbers and electricians.
The new union, with 1.1 million members, is the second largest in Britain and Ireland. In Ireland it will have 60,000 members.
It is already in advanced talks with UNIFI, the main union for bank officials in Britain. If UNIFI joins, with its 200,000 members, the new union will be the largest in Britain.
Such a merger would increase pressure on the Irish Bank Officials' Association to consider its long-term future.
However, the main challenge in Ireland will be to SIPTU, which has 200,000 members and the Technical Engineering and Electrical Union, which has 26,000.
The AEEU has been suspended from the Irish Congress of Trade Unions because of complaints from the TEEU that it is recruiting electricians in the Republic, in breach of a longstanding agreement to the contrary.
The new union is expected to appeal the suspension to the ICTU conference in July. It could prove one of the most fraught debates of the trade union movement this year.
The Irish deputy national officer of MSF, Mr Jerry Shanahan, said yesterday the new union would offer representation to workers ranging from skilled operatives on the shop floor to professionals and senior management.
"Unions today are still based on the model developed in the industrial revolution," he said. "The new union is designed to meet current conditions."
It will also force Irish-based unions to rethink their strategic options, and accelerate their search for allies abroad.