Zarb insists union has 46,000 members

Half of the lost sheep of three union sections recently involved in mass resignations have returned to the General Workers Union, according to general secretary Tony Zarb.

"In the past two months we've had some waves, but no big storms - it's not the first time these things have happened, and very soon we'll have calm seas," Mr Zarb said.

The GWU leader was speaking during a discussion programme on Radio Malta at the end of another turbulent week in which The Times revealed the contents of a confidential document showing that the union has fewer than 20,000 paid-up members.

However, when asked about the membership figure yesterday, Mr Zarb maintained that the GWU had some 46,000 members on its books as of last June.

He accused newspapers of manipulating the facts and said his union was only obliged to relay its membership figures to the Director of Industrial Relations, and not to The Times.

In the last couple of months, the secretaries of the Public Sector Section, the Media and Professional Services Section, and Maritime and Aviation Section either resigned or were sacked, amid claims that the union bosses were interfering in their affairs. In the meantime, the Malta Dockers' Union and the Professional Services Union have been set up, made up mainly of former GWU members.

Mr Zarb told radio listeners that one also has to take into consideration that workers in certain sectors had been laid off and therefore did not see the point of retaining union membership. He also added that trends all across Europe show that membership numbers were dwindling. Still, there were several individuals who wanted to join the GWU.

Asked whether the GWU's leaders would be asking for a vote of confidence in its national congress, Mr Zarb said that a decision would be taken during an extraordinary general conference for delegates on Wednesday.

"We're going to speak openly and then we'll decide. The delegates know that the administration is working for the benefit of the union and I'm quite sure they will tell us to continue working," Mr Zarb said.

He took objection to claims that the GWU was in cahoots with the Labour Party, insisting that during his term at the union's helm no politician had instructed him to do anything.

Yesterday's radio programme clearly showed that the setting up of a Trade Union Council was only a distant dream.

While the president of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions William Portelli underlined the need for unions to speak with one voice, Mr Zarb and Union Haddiema Maghqudin general secretary Gejtu Vella seemed less enthusiastic - at least for the time being.

Unions need to understand each other first, and then draw up a pact of co-operation, before forging ahead with a TUC, Mr Zarb said.

On the other hand, Mr Vella said there was nothing wrong in unions disagreeing on certain issues. If there were a TUC during EU accession it would have been impossible to take a common stand, he said.