Editorial

This must be one of the worst - and saddest - times for the General Workers' Union. Worst because of the way many feel it is being manipulated in the interest of the Labour Party and saddest because of the manifestly unwise stand it has taken over the government's proposal to take the country into the European Union.

Its dispute with Enemalta, now settled, brought back memories of a good number of disputes that were generally seen to have been politically motivated. However much the union may protest that its dispute with Enemalta was not politically motivated, it was perceived as such by most people.

How can the people be blamed for doubting the union's motives when it has such a bad record on this score? The worst case must be its seven-month overtime ban it called at Malta Drydocks in 1970 - an industrial action that had done considerable harm to the 'yard. The ban was lifted the moment Labour won the general elections! Without any pre-conditions!

Relatively fresh in the people's minds too is the action the union had taken at the airport in the summer of 1999.

Of course, this is not to say that the GWU has not done any good at all to the workers in Malta. It invariably does whenever it sticks to just trade union principles.

In the dispute with Enemalta, the corporation and the government are not entirely without fault either, for the collective agreement over which the dispute arose expired in December 2001. But the action came far too close to the referendum for the people to rule out a political motive.

The GWU falters badly whenever it is seen to toe the Labour Party line blindly, as it did, for instance, in the first case we mentioned here, the infamous overtime ban at the Drydocks in 1970, and, also, when it chose to go into marriage with the Malta Labour Party. Much harm had been done to the union before it finally saw reason and separated.

In coming out against EU membership, the GWU has now struck a new "partnership" with Labour, one that obviously sounds sweet to the party's ears but which has a most sour taste to union members who disagree with its stand.

Like the rest of the trade unions, the GWU too is entitled to its own opinion about membership. But how was this opinion formed? Were the delegates who voted for the stance officially taken by the union fully informed of the reports that the union itself had commissioned? Were they all given a copy of the reports?

And what about the union members themselves? Does the GWU think all its members are Labour Party supporters and are, therefore, bound to accept anything it says at face value? When the outcome of most of the reports the union itself had commissioned was generally favourable to EU membership, how can the union then ignore such advice and decide that membership is not in the workers' interest?

Fortunately for Malta, the majority of the workers will not be heeding the GWU. At least all the surveys and polls carried out so far indicate a growing majority for membership. In other words, the GWU and the Labour Party are finding themselves completely isolated on this most important issue for the future of the island. Yet, the yes vote needs to be such that gives a clear signal to both.