For the first time ever, a meeting was held between the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions, the Forum, and the General Workers Union.
That it took place is already a good thing. But if goodwill prevails it could lead to so much more - a welcome sea change in industrial relations with positive ripples in many public affairs.
The key issue is how the baggage of politicisation is going to be dumped. Let us clear the decks of a fundamental misconception. It is a fallacy to put the politicisation of the GWU at par with that of the UHM or the CMTU. The equation GWU + PL = UHM + PN simply does not hold water.
Before 1987, the GWU was part and parcel of the Partit Laburista, even sitting in cabinet when it was government. Rather than the bulwark of workers' rights it was the piston of an ugly machine which shredded them. With the PN mostly in government for the last two decades it remained equally political, a Rottweiler gnawing at the government at every turn, from the introduction of VAT to EU membership - again in diametrical opposition to workers' interests. For the 22 months that the PL was in power in the mid-1990s the Rottweiler morphed into Mary's little lamb.
Today, as far as public policy is concerned, the GWU is nothing more than a wing of the PL's electoral machine. Its newspapers, L-orizzont and it-Torca, are just crassly militant PL propaganda rags.
Are the UHM's and the CMTU's past and present in the same political league? No they are not. Historically, they both fought for workers' rights and better conditions which Mintoff's and Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici's governments systematically denied. And they agreed with governments run by the PN when they gave back those rights and adopted policies which massively improved the standard of living. Did this help the PN's political cause? Yes it did by keeping industrial peace and stability. But why should this matter if the UHM and CMTU leaders were doing their duty as trade unionists and getting what they wanted for their members?
If the first ever meeting between all the unions is to bear fruit, this 'political' chapter needs to be closed. One thing has to be kept clearly in mind, however. It is the GWU which needs to take a long and hard look at the mirror, not the UHM and CMTU.
Note: Your comments are most welcome. Ideally, you'd sign your real name. But if you choose to remain anonymous please use a pseudonym and stick to it. This will avoid the confusion caused by different people signing 'Anonymous'.
6 comments:
This is going to be very difficult for the GWU. Even if, and I have serious reservations on this one, The GWU will need to re-engneer itself into a defender of Workers' rights. For the past three or four decades it has been the militant arm of the PL using the worker as its weapon and industrial relations laws as its defence.
To lay bare now and surgically remove itself form the PL will take a massive overhaul of the PL leadership. As long as Tony Zarb and his cronies remain at the held there is little hope. Just look at what happened to the likes of Josephine Attard.
Extricating itself from the PL will also create a major media problem for the PL. L-Orizzont and it-Torca are the major mouthpieces of the PL. They have a strong readership base and whilst not as pervasive as Super One TV/Radio they are more influential than Nazzjon/Mument. If the GWU had to disassociate itself and take a more independent editorial line then the PL would have a void it simply cannot fill in less than two years (till next election).
It is sad for the Workers. They have been the victims in all of this. You only need to look back at the infamous 22 months (and the VAT/EU issues) to see how their interests were ignored by the GWU in favour of ill-judged political support for the PL.
Good for the worker sure; good for the country probably; good for their political masters definitely not. Though to be fair that would be an earthquake Joseph Muscat would be proud to have masterminded.
Gulinu
@ Anonymous: Your comment is most welcome. Ideally, you'd sign in your real name. But if you choose to remain anonymous please use a pseudonym and stick to it. This will avoid the confusion caused by different people signing 'Anonymous'. Thanks
Bondiblog - I signed off as Gulinu for that very reason.... :)
@ Gulinu, thanks but it is better if you sign Gulinu in the 'Choose an identity' section so that it would appear on top of your comment. Thanks for your cooperation
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Victor Fiorini Good one Lou. Partisan politics and labor unions should never mix. And I agree, it is the GWU who is the main culprit.
Franklin Mamo What's the big deal? Most European unions have political/confessional connections or sympathies. And that's hardly the main issue in Malta where it's personalities and turf wars.
Franklin, sympathies are one thing, being part and parcel of a political party and following it blindly even if it goes down roads which lead to the denial of workers' rights and the lowering of their standard of living is another.
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