Following a ballot last week, the two unions will merge on 1 May to create Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union with around 2m members.

Burke said: “It will reduce duplication and competition between our unions and will free up £5m for recruitment and organising.”

Last week, 86.4% of T&G members gave the go-ahead for the merger and 70.1% of Amicus members voted for it.

Burke said: “We now have the financial muscle to represent members even better. It’s the first step along
the way to a much stronger global union.”