The lull before the truce

Now that the transport strike was given its deathblow when the government bought out the hearse owners for €230,000, what will VICTOR SPITERI, the federation’s president, do next? By JAMES DEBONO

News that the Motor Hearses Association had deserted the Transport Federation after being bought off for €230,000 had just reached me as I was on the way for an interview with Victor Spiteri – the president of the Public Transport Association (ATP) and of the new conglomerate of buses, white taxes and hearses called the Transport Federation – whose four-day strike had brought the country to a standstill.
The strike has clearly taken its toll on Spiteri. Visibly tired and worn out, he had even forgotten about our appointment for the interview. “I was here in this office till 3am…” he tells me as we walk into his office in Blata l-Bajda.
Spiteri refuses to comment on the sudden break-up of the Transport Federation. Neither does he badmouth the Motor Hearses Association for deserting the strike just hours after its leader John Bray had renewed his loyalty to the Federation in a comment he gave to One TV. He even refuses to comment on the ongoing negotiations with the government.
For a moment I considered leaving empty handed. What kept me was my curiosity on how a level-headed person like Spiteri could be responsible for so much mayhem in the country.
Surely unlike the thugs who committed a myriad of illegalities in the past days, Spiteri is anything but a violent person. “I strongly condemn any acts of violence. I am not violent… I regret that there are members who are violent. I wish that things improve… perhaps this has to do with our working conditions but I sincerely wish that these things do not happen. You all can see now what I have to face.”
Hours before the strike ended Spiteri was still concerned that the situation could degenerate. “This is a grave situation. It is easy for you in the media to pump this up… You can’t even imagine what could happen.”
I point out that the public is far from sympathetic to the bus drivers’ cause. Spiteri admits that this is the case, but that those who know the facts can understand why the people in his federation are so angry. “They have invested money in their vehicles and they could lose everything,” he says.
Spiteri however does not appear to object to the very idea of liberalising transport, insisting that the Federation is objecting at the lack of consultation. But the underlying cause of the strike were the broken promises made before the election. Spiteri refers to former roads minister Jesmond Mugliett’s “agreement” with the motor hearses association in which Mugliett promised not to liberalise the sector.
When I point out that the government had never actually signed an agreement of this sort Spiteri points out that the association had accepted to invest in new vehicles with the understanding that no new licenses are issued. “How on earth is it possible that a commitment taken by a previous government is undone by the new minister? This was clearly not a commitment of a single Minister.”
For Spiteri “the fundamental issue is the government’s betrayal, not our resistance to liberalisation… How can the same government which did not even include the liberalisation of this sector in its 353 electoral proposals, change its policy?”
But still, I am dumbfounded by Spiteri’s insistence on talking about the motor hearses’ licences, irrespective of the latter’s desertion from the Federation. Why not stop the strike immediately after the hearse owners had stopped theirs?
“The strike was not stopped, because the minister has threatened us with the removal of monopolies before even sitting down with us to discuss the possibility of liberalisation.”
Spiteri defends the interruption of service by the transport monopolies. “A federation is duty bound to represent its members and to defend any member facing a threat. This happens is what happens in the European Union.”
But how does he react to Austin Gatt’s allegation that the Motor Hearses Association was being pressured not to reach an agreement because it faced a €10,000 fine for leaving the Federation. “With all due respect to the minister, instead of seeking to calm the situation his statements are only worsening things. I can show you the statute of the federation which contains no clause like this.”
He also denies the charge that the Federation has ordered a strike without trying other means at its disposal. “When the minister was going to liberalise the hearse market, the federation asked the association to hold a meeting with the government. We did not even intervene at that stage. In that meeting the minister told them clearly that in the space of a few weeks he was going to propose liberalisation to the Cabinet. Immediately the Motor Hearse Association referred this to the Federation. It was only than that he asked for an urgent meeting with the government.”
This prompts me to ask whether the Federation was led in to blind alley by the same association which deserted their cause after a three-day strike by the entire federation. Curiously Spiteri is offended by my deduction. He even rises up from the chair threatening to stop the interview, and lamenting at the way the media was treating this issue.
“Don’t misinterpret what I am saying. This is how things work in a federation. We were obliged by federation’s statute to intervene on behalf of our members. What’s the use of a Federation if it does not support its members? Have we done anything out of this world by doing what trade unions have been doing for ages through the use of sympathy strikes?”
Spiteri refuses to speak on the desertion of the hearses association. He simply points his finger on MaltaToday Midweek’s front page with the heading “Cash for Hearses” – “I expect the media to do its job and ask the government about this.”
It was Spiteri who first revealed that the Motor Hearse Association had been offered €60,000 by the government in one of the mediation meetings. It now turns out that the motor hearse association was offered €230,000!
But irrespective of the methods used by the government, doesn’t the consumer stand to gain from liberalisation and the removal of monopolies? Spiteri even disputes the claim that there is a monopoly on transport.
“Apart from public transport routes there is full liberalisation in this sector. As regards taxis there is simply a numerus clausus on the number of white taxis. There are no limits on black taxis operated by garages. One can simply phone a garage and get a taxi.”
But won’t consumers benefit from more competition in this sector? “This can only be established after the operators and the government make their own homework by conducting appropriate studies,” Spiteri argues.
He points out that in other countries like Italy it is up to local councils to establish the number of taxis operating in their towns and peripheries. “The EU only dictates the removal of monopolies in the public transport. On all other sectors it is up to the government to decide.”
Neither does Spiteri believe that the prices charged by motor hearses will decrease because of liberalisation. He points out that consumers have no say on which motor hearse operator is responsible for a funeral because all the arrangements are made by 50 licensed commissioners.
“Do you know anyone who contacts the motor hearse for a funeral?” Spiteri says, explaining that in the funeral market it is the commissioners and not the motor hearse operators who compete with each other. It is the commissioners who then contact the Motor Hearses Association, which then issues a roster among its members.
“It is the commissioners and not the motor hearses who set the prices. The tariffs of the motor hearses are fixed by law.”
He also pours cold water on claims that the prices will now decrease simply because more operators will be in the market, because the demand in this sector will not rise and will remain limited to the average seven people who die each day. “Let’s imagine that 50 motor hearse owners start to offer the service instead of the current 12. They will still have to carry seven people. But the work will be shared by 50 instead of 12. Facing less work, will the operators decrease or increase their prices?”
He goes on to warn that after a few years, cutthroat competition could result in the survival of the few. “The motor hearse monopoly will be replaced by one person. This is already happening in everything else in this country.”
Curiously, while opposing liberalisation in other transport sectors, Spiteri acknowledges that EU rules do not permit the status quo in the public transport sector which is characterised by a private monopoly.
One option allowed by the EU is for the state to act as an “internal operator”, which Spiteri says has already been excluded by government. The other option would be to break down the public transport association in a number of SMEs, an option Spiteri claims was considered during Jesmond Mugliett’s term in office.
The other alternative allowed by the EU is liberalisation through the issue of tenders for operators.
Spiteri doubts whether anyone would be willing to take over this sector. “No foreign company would consider working in the misery of our conditions. Just look at the state of our terminus. If the government does not find a foreign company willing to invest in the transport infrastructure itself, the government will have to make massive improvements before finding an investor.”
He also insists that subsidies are there to fulfil the social obligations of public transport. “One can increase the cost of public transport to Lm1 but who will pay for it? The elderly, students and the people on a minimum wages? We are not the ones who favour subsidies. It is the government which favours subsidies because of the social aspect.”
Victor Spiteri insists that the only way forward is consultation and dialogue. But he laments that no meetings have taken place on this issue since the election.
“We only had an informal meeting with Austin Gatt in which he informed us that in July he will present us with a set of proposals on the government’s behalf and that then he will give us until December to come back with our proposals.”

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MaltaToday News
20 July 2008

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