GWU's stand on opt-out clause

Angelo Vassallo has done it again. Writing on the opt-out clause (May 31), he gave another example of the way he lapses into absurdities when attacking the General Workers' Union.

Mr Vassallo erroneously tried to discredit the GWU for its position regarding the Working Time Directive's opt-out clause. I can put his mind at rest that the GWU was never against the opt-out clause. What the GWU is against is the prospect of workers being abused in the "sacred" name of the opt-out clause. We have hard evidence of workers being asked, even obliged, to sign preconditions to work as much overtime as demanded by the employer before they are given employment.

Is this the situation that Mr Vassallo wants to perpetuate in our country? If so, and being a trade unionist himself, he must be ashamed of himself. He must surely know that the first and foremost duty of a trade unionist is to defend the workers against abuses of all sorts. And the most effective way to secure and protect workers' interests is through collective bargaining. This has been practised since the coming of trade unions and I wonder why Mr Vassallo is now finding it so hard to accept such a practice applying also to overtime.

He wrongly accuses the GWU of wanting to deny the workers their right to freely exercise the opt-out. The GWU took the same line as that of all the other European trade unions when the issue came to voting within ECOSOC. The GWU's position was also affirmed by both the representatives of CMTU/UHM and civil society.

I challenge Mr Vassallo to deny it. The GWU's yes vote and the CMTU/UHM's yes vote had the same effect and meaning. So I don't know why Mr Vassallo persists in his folly. He either loathes the GWU or is misinformed.