While protests over the tough utility regime in 2008 united the Maltese trade unions, the new water and electricity rates announced by the government in the last quarter of 2009 brought sharp divisions among the unions to the fore again. In their opposition to these measures, two diametrically opposed camps have formed within the Maltese trade union movement. The conflict underlines the divisions that exist within the country’s trade union movement.
Opposition to government utility measures
Since 2008, when the government announced a hefty utility regime, the increase in water and electricity rates has been an issue of debate among Maltese social partners. In 2008, all of the country’s trade unions formed a united front and organised a protest march against the imposition of these new tariffs (MT0812049I). The issue became rather dormant following the government’s decision to alter the rates. However, it became highly contentious once again in the last quarter of 2009, when the government – pressed by a shortfall in revenue and struggling to deal with the effects of the economic recession – announced tougher utility tariffs. The social partners expressed their strong opposition through protests and urged the government to retract the envisaged measures.
Trade union divisions
Rather than acting as a source of unity among the Maltese trade unions, as it had done in 2008, the situation brought to the fore the sharp divisions that exist within the country’s trade union movement. In its vociferous protests, the General Workers’ Union (GWU) was supported by Forum Unions Malta (FORUM), a loose confederation of trade unions set up in 2004 (MT0912019I). These organisations formed a front called the Organisation of Maltese Unions (Għaqda Unions Maltin, OMU) to urge the government to revise its measures.
While the other large trade union organisation, the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU), also joined the chorus of protests, it kept some distance from the newly formed alliance. Meanwhile, OMU included within its fold the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT), which – following its withdrawal from CMTU (MT0901019I) – had become an affiliate of FORUM and kept a high profile on the protest stage.
Once the utility rates came into force in January 2010, the GWU/FORUM alliance became more vocal in its protests. It announced that it would be holding a protest march in the capital city of Valletta and invited all bodies to take part. The opposition Labour Party (LP) together with the Green Party (Alternattiva Demokrattika, AD), which does not have representation in parliament, accepted the invitation. However, CMTU decided not to take part, believing that the protest march was assuming highly politicised overtones. CMTU added that it believes in the effectiveness of social dialogue rather than protest actions in the streets.
GWU retorted that that the government’s move to put the tariffs into force signalled that it was not open to dialogue. GWU also refused to attend the meeting held at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), maintaining that it was pointless discussing measures that had already come into force. Meanwhile, the OMU front called for a respite period of three weeks, during which talks would be held between the government and trade unions to reach consensus about the new tariffs. For its part, the front would call off its demonstration, while the LP would withdraw the motion it presented in parliament calling for a suspension of the tariff increase.
Protest action goes ahead
The government did not reply to this appeal. Consequently, a protest march was held on 28 February 2010 and another on the following day, when a vote on the motion was due. The motion was eventually defeated and the new rates were approved by the parliament.
Tensions spill over to public domain
The split between the two camps in the Maltese trade union movement was made manifest by their arguing in the public domain, where they hurled accusations against each other. The situation became even tenser due to a press report stating that some MUT members felt dissatisfied with the new GWU/FORUM alliance that the union had joined. These members had consequently tendered their resignation from the trade union in favour of joining the Union of United Workers (Union Ħaddiema Maqgħqudin, UĦM), the second largest general trade union in Malta. The President of MUT, John Bencini, accused UĦM of poaching members.
Commentary
The emergence of a third force under the GWU/FORUM alliance, strengthened by the affiliation of MUT, has not helped to narrow the divisions between the two traditional blocks in Malta’s trade union movement. The affinity of MUT with GWU, culminating in an alliance between the two trade unions, has unnerved CMTU. Although there have been times when the Maltese trade unions pursued a common goal, the divergence in the approach between GWU and CMTU has proved increasingly discernible.
Saviour Rizzo, Centre for Labour Studies