UHM accuses GWU of political allegiances

The rift between the two main trade unions opened into a wide gulf yesterday, with theUnion Haddiema Maghqudin accusing the General Workers' Union of changing its tune according to the party in government.

"We have never had any political allegiances and we therefore never had a muzzle over our mouth," UHM general secretary Gejtu Vella told a news conference yesterday.

Mr Vella said the union felt compelled to call the news conference following recent public statements by the GWU which referred, directly or indirectly, to the UHM.

What sparked Mr Vella's outburst in particular, were the comments made by GWU general secretary Tony Zarb at a rally last Tuesday.

Mr Zarb accused the UHM of throwing away an opportunity for unions to present a united front to push for the industrial legislation amendments.

But Mr Vella called upon the GWU to "declare its position" before making unfounded statements, and dictating to other unions what they should do.

He recalled that it had been the GWU that also believed that the UHM's actions at the freeport during the former Labour administration's tenure had been illegal and abusive.

While the UHM fought for workers' rights at the time, the GWU remained mum and refused to act, Mr Vella said.

To cite another example, Mr Vella turned the clock back to 1977, to the doctors' strike, to prove that the GWU's wrong decisions had taken their toll on workers.

"Some people are still suffering for what the GWU did in 1977, when it acted as a strike-breaker," Mr Vella charged.

At the time the Mintoff government had suddenly included a number of medical categories as "essential services", and the GWU did not budge, Mr Vella said.

The GWU had also refused to back workers in other categories who had decided to take action in sympathy with the doctors.

On the other hand, the UHM always acted fairly, regardless of which party was in government.

Mr Vella outlined some of the proposals made by his union to avoid industrial strife, especially in light of the new employment and industrial relations bill.

He said his union believed that the new bill, especially those sections specified by International Labour Organisation standards, should be entrenched with the necessary mechanism to avoid the possibility of trouble in future.

For example, the UHM believed that civil service employees should have a right to conciliation, arbitration and mediation.

Mr Vella said the UHM did not agree with the idea that it would be the prime minister's prerogative to add any category of work to the list of essential services.

"Still, we believe the law is a positive development and will certainly improve work conditions, though in places it needs to be refined."

That was why the UHM believed that the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development was the right forum to trash out these matters before they escalated.

Yesterday's news conference followed a meeting of the MCESD in which the new proposed laws were discussed.

The conflict between the GWU and the UHM was not broached at the MCESD meeting, Mr Vella said.