GWU's 'January campaign' fails to materialise

The General Workers' Union's promise of a protest campaign in January "backed by massive support from the people" and its threat of an eventual general strike appear to have fizzled out.

The warnings had been sounded by GWU secretary general Tony Zarb in a demonstration in Paola on December 16.

He had been speaking in the context of the loss of jobs from Sea Malta and the new surcharge on water and electricity bills, saying the government could not continue treating people in this manner and insisting on meeting it over the surcharge.

Mr Zarb had also told employers they were "about to face further industrial action". The union had ordered sympathy action in the form of a work-to-rule which involved the private sector, arguing they too should insist that the government finds a solution to the high cost of water and electricity. The sympathy action was never called off. The union had claimed that the response to the directive was very good but a spokesman for the Investments Ministry had said the impact of the directive on government-owned entities was "insignificant" and several private enterprises said they had "hardly noticed the effect".

However, employers were still contemplating suing the GWU as they felt they should not be the target of industrial action when they were not directly involved in the issue.

Sources said the GWU was now trying to find a way to extract itself from the situation it had created for itself.

One of the reasons, the sources said, was because of the union's relations with the Labour Party. While the MLP wanted to appear to be building bridges, the union's belligerence, particularly the protest in Paola just before Christmas, the threat of a general strike and its refusal to visit the President on New Year's Day, were perceived as harming the party.

Since the December manifestation, Mr Zarb has mentioned the campaign again in public at the close of a seminar on January 12, when he referred to proposals the union had submitted to the government for easing the burden of the surcharge.

If agreement were reached, there would not be the need to continue with the "campaign of protests", he had said.

In an article in l-orizzont last week, Mr Zarb revealed that the union had given the government a proposal to establish the band of people that cannot afford to pay higher utility rates and bind itself to give compensation in such cases. The study would be conducted by someone independent.

But a government spokesman yesterday said the union's proposal contained "nothing new" and the government had actually done all that the union was requesting before implementing the surcharge.

"The government had commissioned KPMG, an independent company, to carry out studies and the different scenarios were presented to social partners at the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development. To soften the impact, the cost of living increase was given with immediate effect," the spokesman said.

In order to try and find a way out for the GWU, the social partners last November had suggested at an MCSED meeting that economist Gordon Cordina should draw up another report by the end of January.

But the GWU had at that time insisted that the report should be completed before the December 15 protest in which Mr Zarb had threatened a general strike and an escalation of the union's campaign.