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By Kris Maher
Word Count: 773 | Companies Featured in This Article: Northwest Airlines, AK Steel Holding, Walgreen
Facing tough concessionary demands from employers, some independent unions are merging with bigger unions to gain access to more-experienced labor lawyers and negotiators, as well as larger strike funds and broader support in case of strikes or walkouts.
While neither unions nor the federal Department of Labor tracks the numbers of independent unions that join bigger unions each year, recent moves suggest a shift is under way as a number of smaller unions, looking for clout, agree to become a local of a larger union, much as an acquired business becomes the operating unit of a larger company. Such mergers ...