I had a presentiment that the union movement was in trouble during a gig in the mid-1980s by post-punk troubadour Billy Bragg. "I was a miner, I was a docker, I was a railwayman between the wars," roared the audience of inebriate undergrads, singing along. But the main experience they would have of mines, docks and rail yards was advising on their closure in later careers as accountants. Economic and social changes, including the burgeoning of the middle class, were tugging therug from under unions, even as Thatcherite reform of strike laws rocked them back on their heels.

On Tuesday, delegates from the Transport and General Workers' Union endorsed a merger with Amicus to create a super-union with 2m members. Speaking on a stage bathed in red light, T&G boss Tony Woodley promised to "strike fear into the heart of every renegade anti-union boss in the country". Employers nervous of a revival of 1970s-style activism should not be unduly worried. This looks like a defensive merger. Amicus and the T&G lost 260,000 members between 1998 and 2005 and have been competing for subscriptions. Unionists have much more to do to revive their movement within the private sector. Success depends on learning from business, rather than such sentimental custodians of working class values as Mr Bragg.