TORONTO -- Two of Canada's largest private sector unions have formally proposed joining forces to inject some life into the country's flagging labour movement.
The Canadian Auto Workers Union and the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada say the two organizations should merge in order to better protect existing members and to help attract new ones.
They say the merger comes in response to what it calls multiple attacks on the country's labour force, including several pieces of back-to-work legislation passed by the federal government.
While laying out the plan at a news conference in Toronto today, the groups said the new union would consist of five regional councils and feature a 25-member executive board.
The still unnamed union would be created in 2013 once the proposal has been accepted by both the CAW and CEP.
The proposed merger comes after several months of talks between the two unions, which collectively represent more than 300,000 workers across the country.
