Unions urged to change

Maltese trade unions were facing a major issue of credibility as their membership declined and their traditional roles challenged, Emmanuel Micallef, former deputy secretary general of the General Workers' Union, said yesterday.

A guest speaker at The Malta Business Weekly breakfast, Mr Micallef said that in the context of a changing economy, Malta's major unions wasted too much energy trying to justify their positions, attempting to prove that their affiliation to a political party did not affect their work and trying to persuade the public that they were independent.

He said restructuring across the board, as well as the shift from traditional production lines to the service industries, had reduced unions' power and even their influence in society.

Though union membership in Malta was, according to official statistics, one of the highest in Europe, less than half the Maltese workforce is represented in a union, Mr Micallef contended.

This meant that unions no longer represented the majority of Maltese workers - most young workers were not unionised and unions also took into account pensioners and retired workers who made up around 20 to 30 per cent of their members.

Mr Micallef remarked that unions today were still male-dominated. While pushing for equal rights, they had failed to give enough space to their female members. Insisting that unions still have a valid role in industrial relations, especially to uphold workers' rights in a democratic context, Mr Micallef said a partnership between employers and unions could be a good way to achieve productivity and flexibility while guaranteeing job security.

This required an effort by employers to train workers.

Unfortunately, he added, it seemed that unions preferred to react instead of acting proactively when faced with the ever-changing labour market.

While lobbying for laws to protect part-timers, for example, they hardly tried to attract part-time workers to join them. It was still a common belief that part-time employment was less important when today it was often a person's main job.

He suggested that Maltese unions turn a fresh leaf and establish a code of ethics to lobby for issues of national interest.

First of all, Mr Micallef said, they should establish a think tank of experts to devise a strategy on moving ahead in the years to come.

The other speaker, former Finance Minister John Dalli, said both unions and employers agreed on the need to create wealth.

The challenge that lay ahead was the need to change traditional attitudes, often adopted by unions to militate in order to protect old work practices, and therefore inefficiencies.

He said unions today should not be concerned with employment but with the employability of workers in a competitive labour market.