The recent agreement between Malta’s trade unions to join in one united front on the utility tariffs issue has been hailed as a ‘historic’ development that could even lead to the setting up of a national Trade Union Council (TUC) – an elusive dream that has never come true.
The setting up of a TUC in Malta has been talked about for decades but no real progress was ever achieved on this front for several reasons, foremost among them being the GWU’s open flirtation with the MLP.
The GWU, of course, had not joined the other unions’ protests when water and electricity tariffs had been astronomically increased by the Alfred Sant administration 11 years ago. It had also chosen to back the MLP against Malta’s EU membership bid, in contrast to the position of the other unions. In 2005 it had even managed to undermine a social pact that was agreed upon by the Government and all the other social partners. In other words it has always played the dog in the manger role, seeking to give priority to its allegiance to the MLP and to its short-term interest as the largest trade union bloc in Malta.
It even thwarted attempts by foreign trade unionists to bridge the differences on the setting up of a local TUC. Has the time now come for the GWU to face the inevitable truth and change its stubborn stance in its relations with the other unions?
An editorial in The Malta Independent on the eve of the ‘manifestation’ held by all the unions in Valletta the other Friday said that the decision to hold one manifestation ‘has also been described as possibly the first step – yet another one, considering the previous attempts – towards the formation of such a council.’
Others wrote about the same dream. Writing in l-orizzont on Monday, Dun Anġ Seychell waxed lyrical in his usual superficial way about the ‘non-violent’ strength of trade unions and how happy he was that they had united in the face of the problems faced by their members.
Emmanuel Micallef, former GWU deputy general secretary and erstwhile failed contender for the top post held by Tony Zarb for the last ten years was much more insightful. Micallef wrote two weekend articles – in Il-Ġens illum and in Illum – in which he insisted that the unions’ united front should lead to the formation of a TUC. In the first article, Micallef insisted that a TUC would mean a stronger voice for trade unions in Malta and that there is an urgency for the setting up of such a council; more so as the GWU can no longer boast that it is stronger than all the other unions put together. He insisted that the petty objections have become even more irrelevant (“l-intietef saru ħmerijiet”) and expressed his eventual dismay if the united front shown on Friday was not followed up.
Micallef’s articles are indeed an eye-opener about the issue. In Illum, he even took a leaf out of Toni Abela’s book of fantasies and wrote two ‘imaginary’ letters, the first written by the UHM’s Gejtu Vella to the GWU’s Tony Zarb. The letter says that as a condition for the other union’s participation in the public manifestation, the GWU should no longer object to the other unions’ participation in the European Trade Unions Confederation (ETUC) as it has been doing for so long; more so as the CMTU had more members than the GWU. The letter added that MUT president John Bencini had been asked to pass on this message to Zarb.
Micallef then went on to write the second ‘imaginary’ letter: Tony Zarb’s reply to Gejtu Vella in which the outlines of an agreement on Malta’s ETUC membership are set out. According to this imaginary letter the GWU will not object to the setting up of a TUC with the first general secretary being Tony Zarb himself. If there is agreement on this, the letter continued, the planned GWU demonstration on Thursday would be cancelled and replaced by a joint manifestation organised by all the unions on Friday.
The problem with some ‘imaginary’ letters is that – unlike those in Toni Abela’s fantasies – they leave nothing to the imagination. In other words these two ‘imaginary’ letters recount allegations about backroom arrangements made by the CMTU and the GWU – brokered by John Bencini – that led to the joint manifestation of all the unions; a development that is being hailed as ‘historic’ but would not be so unless there is something more substantial behind it. In actual fact, I had heard similar unconfirmed rumours long before I read Micallef’s piece in Illum!
I was, therefore, hardly surprised when following the joint manifestation the MUT told all and sundry that the time had come to revisit the TUC idea and called a meeting to discuss its eventual formation. Officially the call was ‘inspired’ by the joint manifestation held by all the trade unions for a common cause, but… it does seem to me that the cause and effect were somewhat inverted!
According to a report in The Times last Tuesday, the UHM’s Gejtu Vella insisted that the priority now was the revision of the utility tariffs ‘and not the formation of the TUC’, while Tony Zarb said that ‘this was a very interesting proposal’. Surprise, surprise!
Gejtu is shrewd enough to play it cool and not appear over-enthusiastic and perhaps had some premonition on things to come. By Wednesday the meeting called by the MUT was boycotted by the MUT itself and bickering between CMTU members came to the fore. Writing in The Times on Friday Emanuel Micallef backtracked on nhis dreams and asserted that with the present Union leaders, a Maltese TUC was impossible.
Some are even talking of sinister pro-government forces already attempting to destabilise the deal, but I do not think that the PN is so foolishly short-sighted. In the long run, when the current utility tariff issue is dead and buried, the formation of a TUC is in the national interest for several reasons, not the least of which the fact that whoever is in government would have only one trade union interlocutor with whom to discuss national issues.

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