Privatisation has always been something of a hot potato in Malta: more so in the case of the national postal service, whose previous partial privatisation resulted in a nosedive in service standards and a disaster for consumers.
So it is surprising that support for the company’s total privatisation now comes from the same trade union which in the past had wrestled with former major shareholders, New Zealand company Transend.
Union Haddiema Maqghudin general secretary Gejtu Vella thinks that the total privatisation of MaltaPost will bring to an end a “10-year trauma” for postal workers. “What we lacked was a sense of political direction,” Vella told MaltaToday. “That is why our workers were demotivated.”
Vella regrets that MaltaPost had to pass from a turbulent decade in which it was first turned in to a public company in the mid 1990s, only to revert to a government department in 1998 and to be partially privatised in 2002 when New Zealend state company Transend bought an equity share. “Postal workers were once the high flyers in government departments. But all this changed for the worse. Fortunately, a reputable bank is taking over and this gives our workers a greater work ethic.”
The UHM, which went on the warpath when Transend tried to downsize the number of postal workers, is satisfied by the job guarantee given by Maltapost’s new owners. Maltapost has now promised not to dismiss any worker except for disciplinary proceedures and normal retirement.
Vella attributes the difficulties facing the postal sector worldwide to the arrival of the internet. “With the arrival of internet, postal services have declined. That is why it makes a lot of strategic sense to have a bank which is not only involved, but is a major shareholder. In this way the post office infrastructure will also offer banking services. This gives postal workers some peace of mind after years of uncertainty.”
Gejtu Vella is also confident that the involvement of a reputable bank will ensure that the new company will survive the European-wide liberalisation of the sector in 2010. “We were never against liberalisation as this favours the consumer. The fact that Maltapost will diversify its activities is the way forward to beat potential competition.”
Although the EU commission wants the sector to be liberalised by that date, the EU does not impose the privatisation of postal services, which are still deemed an essential service.
Postal services in Europe remain largely in public hands, although there has been a movement towards the liberalisation of these services with the United Kingdom and social democratic Sweden taking the lead.
In July a large majority of MEPs voted to remove postal monopolies in EU Member States by 31 December 2010: two years later than the 1 January 2009 proposed by the European Commission.
Full market opening implies that national operators will no longer have a monopoly on mail below the maximum weight of 50 grams, as they have at present.
It was also decided that for new Member States, especially those with a small population and a limited geographical size, the deadline for the opening up of the market will be two years later, i.e. 31 December 2012, to allow extra time to find ways to maintain a universal service.
Although there was no definition of “member states with a small population”, MEPs referred to Luxembourg during the debate.
In a statement issued last week, leftist organisation Zminijietna – which opposes the privatisation of public services – was the first to ask the government whether it intends to make use of this clause.
But the Maltese government will not commit itself yet on whether it will ask the commission to delay liberalisation in Malta until 2012. “As the clause mentioned in your question is yet to be discussed by Council, it is not pertinent to state what the position of the Government of Malta would be,” a spokesperson for the Ministry for Communications and Competitiveness told MaltaToday.
Elsewhere, Alternattiva Demokratika has also expressed its reservations because the complete privatisation of Maltapost was never announced in the PN’s electoral programme. “The government only has a mandate to privatise public entities when it has an electoral mandate to do so,” AD’s spokesperson for the economy and finances Edward Fenech told MaltaToday.
Fenech also expressed his reservation on the grounds that postal services are still a monopoly. “We are generally in favour of privatisation except when this is only done to make money and in cases of natural monopolies. Since the postal service is still a monopoly, we find privatisation questionable.”