Matthew Vella
The president of the union of bank employees William Portelli has broken his silence over MUBE’s apparent acceptance of government’s decision to do away with the role of worker-director at the Bank of Valletta, in which the government has a 25% shareholding.
“The finance minister had already communicated this decision to us a year ago but we agreed to prolong the position for another term. The minister made it clear to us it was government’s policy. Since government kept its word on the agreement, we thought we should remain silent on the matter,” Portelli said.
While the decision to remove the post, in place since BOV’s nationalisation in 1973, was taken last year, only two weeks ago the government blamed the international financial crisis for its decision to appoint its own director to the bank’s board, apart from the chairman.
“The presence of a further government representative is essential at a time where more than ever, the overarching needs of the bank, which is after all of a national interest, rather than specific needs have to be taken into consideration,” the finance ministry said.
Employees and unions expressed their dismay at the decision to replace government’s worker-director, who is elected internally by the bank’s employees, but the MUBE was conspicuous by its silence on the matter.
“The minister retains his prerogative to decide on terminating the position. Once the position was kept for another term, MUBE felt it couldn’t push any more on the matter. We work well with the other banks without a worker-director. We felt we would have applied equal pressure on these banks as well if we found issue with the government’s decision,” Portelli said.
While unions such as the General Workers’ Union and the Professional and Services Employees’ Union lambasted the decision at a time of great financial uncertainty, the MUBE president said it was understandable that government might want its own representative on the board in times like these.
“In today’s world of banking and finance, the role of worker-director is debatable. We can understand the government’s decision when at board levels there is a lot of secret information being passed around. We did not feel we should oppose the decision given the financial crisis,” Portelli said.
The GWU, on the other hand, said that replacing the worker-director would “substantially weaken workers’ say in decision… In the present financial crisis which is reflecting on BOV’s profits, the contribution of workers to decision-making is essential and more valid than ever before.”
The bank will also be presenting a motion at the next AGM in December for the co-option of a new director. BOV employees own some 4 million shares collectively but the election of a director requires 7 million votes.
Last Wednesday, the MUBE did not participate in a seminar on workers’ participation at the University of Malta, which was addressed by major unions. The subject of the worker-director was also broached.
“I don’t think we would have had much to say about it. I feel that workers’ participation has to be reviewed, in debate and discussion with the union,” Portelli said.
The decision to remove the post even earned the criticism of PN ideologue Peter Seracino Inglott, who at the seminar on workers’ participation declared that the elimination of the worker-director from the BOV board was a retrograde step.
“Workers’ participation at the highest level of the workplace goes beyond the material benefits of the company and is an expression and recognition of human dignity,” Seracino Inglott said. “Besides, the suppression of the last remaining remnants of workers’ participation in Malta also runs counter to one of the fundamental principles of the Nationalist Party.”
Speaking at the seminar last Wednesday, Bank of Valletta’s worker-director James Grech said industrial democracy encouraged greater economic gain and social justice.
“Workers’ participation is the highest form of democracy that can exist among the working class. So one should strive to promote workers’ participation since in such a process, democracy in the country would be strengthened. This is a moral challenge.”
Grech said that by the more responsibility and decision-making is shared out among workers, the more conscious they become of their role within the enterprise.
Saviour Rizzo, acting director of the Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Malta, said the removal of the worker-director would reverse the process to eliminate the top-down hierarchy of British industrial relations.
“Paradoxically this has happened at a time when, during our first four years of EU membership, we have been striving to assert our European credentials. The European Commission has been making serious attempts to implement the principles of worker’s involvement in decision making of the firms…
“The BOV directors who in their statements and even in the corporate social responsibility report of 2006 try to portray their enterprise as a model of openness and accountability in their relationship with shareholders, should realise this model would be lacking an important element if their stakeholders are not be given equal treatment. Abolishing the post of worker director is a retrograde step which may diminish rather than enhance the BOV European credentials,” Rizzo said.
Alternattiva Demokatika chairperson Arnold Cassola remarked that the removal of the worker-director was “quite worrying”.
By eliminating the worker-director and replacing him with another government-appointed director, government is actually having two directors nominated out of 7, with the option of a third extra director being co-opted, he said referring to the motion that will be presented at the bank’s AGM in December.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt

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