Unite general secretary Derek Simpson hit the nail on the head in arguing: "If people feel that they can get the kind of support and strength that they need from a union, I don't think they mind what you call it."

Trade unions exist to do a basic job - to defend workers' pay and conditions.

They can and do take on other responsibilities and fringe benefits - everything from credit cards to concessionary insurance rates; but securing the best price for members' labour power and safeguarding their health, safety and workplace respect is always the priority.

If Unite members are convinced that merging with the large north American union USW will assist them in that task, they will jump at the opportunity.

And, certainly, at a time when a relatively small number of transnational corporations are dominating global production, anything that minimises the prospect of national trade unions accepting the "reality" of a race to the bottom to price members into a job is welcome.

These corporations must be laughing all the way to the bank to see unions in one country after another agreeing to cut corporate costs; basic pay, fringe benefits, overtime rates etc - in a bid to persuade them not to relocate overseas.

If international union mergers can ensure a co-ordinated principled approach, they can only be positive.

However, there are two major phenomena that will work to undermine the principles of internationalism and working class solidarity.

One is the existence of stultifying anti-trade union legislation, especially in Britain and the US, and the other is trade unions' poverty of ambition.

Solidarity action is specifically outlawed in the US and Britain, forcing workers in struggle to fight employers with one hand behind their backs.

Employers can ship in scabs from elsewhere in the country or from overseas. They can act in concert to undermine industrial action.

But woe betide any set of workers who act out of natural decency to try to tilt the balance of power in favour of members of their own union who are out on strike.

Think back to the efforts by workers at Heathrow airport who showed solidarity with the Gate Gourmet strikers and the storm of rage generated by employers, the media and the Labour government.

New Labour is now on the bones of its backside, abandoned by increasing numbers of its once generous boardroom donors and sinking into debt-laden oblivion.

Unions are ready and willing to bail Labour out, but they still seem to accept that Labour is only electable if it pursues Tory-style policies and gives up on any demands for real justice.

And previous union leaders who have copped the ermine, such as Baroness Prosser, are the most strident in rejecting the case for trade union freedom and for close Labour-union links.

The ability of a merged Unite-USW international union to punch its weight and to affect salaries, conditions and investment policies on a global basis will be enhanced by the capacity of its constituent parts to operate freely and effectively on their home turf.

A trade union freedom Bill in Britain is not only a prerequisite for effective international trade union solidarity but for domestic social justice too.