UNITE general secretary Len McCluskey poured cold water on plans yesterday to build a super-union with civil servants’ union PCS.

Union leaders have been in talks about PCS joining Unite — in plans that Mr McCluskey explained would be a transfer of undertakings rather than a merger.

But he revealed: “There’ll be no further progress with PCS going into the future.”

Hinting at the reasons for the breakdown, he told delegates “our rules don’t change, our structures don’t change” in any transfer of undertakings. 

His comment comes after PCS members insisted they would not throw their lot in with Unite if their subs contributed to Labour Party coffers. 

A motion passed at PCS conference in May made a separate political fund for civil servants within Unite.

Mr McCluskey added that talks with rail union TSSA also fell down earlier this year “because we couldn’t reach an agreement about financial issues.”

But he told members to be proud as a number of unions are joining Unite because it represented “the vanguard of the movement.”