Connect comms union to merge with Prospect

David Meyer ZDNet UK

Published: 04 Nov 2009 15:10 GMT

The UK's communications professionals' union, Connect, is to merge with Prospect, the union for engineers, managers and scientists.

The merger was cleared by Connect's members by a postal ballot that ended on Tuesday. On Wednesday, the unions issued a statement saying 88 percent of those who voted supported the merger proposal, which was endorsed by Connect delegates at a conference earlier this year.

There will be an autonomous communications sector within Prospect, a Connect spokesperson told ZDNet UK on Wednesday, adding that the merger had been approved by Connect's members because it was "the best way to represent, support and protect our members at work".

Connect has about 19,000 members, who work as managers and professionals at firms such as BT, O2, Vodafone, Ericsson, HP and Airwave. Prospect, which represents engineers, scientists, managers and specialists in the agriculture, defence, energy, environment, heritage, industry and transport sectors, already has 102,000 members.

"This merger will help us to realise our vision of creating a union to protect and represent our professional members throughout their careers, with their union membership as a vital part of their career plans," Connect general secretary Adrian Askew said in the statement.