Workers should choose their union - Sant

It is up to workers to decide which union would best represent their interests, whether this was a large union like the General Workers Union or the Union Haddiema Maghqudin or one of the smaller unions, Labour leader Alfred Sant said yesterday.

Speaking at the launch of the party's draft document on workers' conditions, Dr Sant said it was important for trade unions to be strong, not fragmented. They also had to use their strength responsibly and reach agreements in the interests of workers and companies as well as the country as a whole.

Asked whether he was advocating people to join bigger rather than small unions, Dr Sant said the choice was entirely in the workers' hands. "They have to decide which union best represents their interests," he said.

Speaking about the draft plan on working conditions, Dr Sant said this was another link in the chain of proposals that would form the backbone of the MLP manifesto after being approved by the party general conference in January.

The document wants to redress the country's "deteriorating situation" and focuses on issues like unemployment and the standard of skills the workforce should have, underemployment of women and a determination to curb the cost of living, Dr Sant said.

The document speaks of short- and long-term measures, such as reducing bureaucracy, incentives for creativity and innovation, initiatives to attract new forms of foreign investment, and maintaining good conditions of work for part-timers and working women.

To encourage more women to work, the MLP would provide subsidised childcare centres and introduce the concept of shared mothering, where parents who opt to stay at home can get paid for caring for other children.

The draft document also mentions tailor-made flexi-time programmes for the public sector and, where possible, the introduction of concepts such as annualised hours and teleworking in private companies.

In the long run, the MLP aims to strengthen vocational training and stimulate and assist planned restructuring "which should be a continuous process in today's world," the document says.

The document was launched in the presence of the two party deputy leaders Michael Falzon and Charles Mangion as well as MLP spokesmen Karl Chircop and Noel Farrugia.