MUMN honorary president faces chop over critical comments

The man who headed the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses for 11 years risks losing his title of honorary president after he questioned the union's industrial actions.

The fate of former MUMN president Rudolph Cini will be decided today during a meeting of the union's council, called by the president, Paul Pace.

The meeting comes after Mr Cini questioned whether the MUMN should have issued hard-hitting directives in the dispute it has with the government over staff shortages.

A rally in which the directives were announced was attended by fewer than 100 nurses and midwives, of whom there are over 2,000 in Malta and Gozo.

Mr Cini, who will be a candidate in the forthcoming European Parliament elections on the Nationalist Party ticket, said that, while trade unions have every right to take measures to defend their members, actions have to be responsible and professional. He added that whoever directs nurses to take certain actions should assume responsibility for their repercussions.

One of the directives, suspended yesterday following a meeting between the union and Social Policy Minister John Dalli, would have had nurses working at Mater Dei Hospital's Renal Unit to stop being on call. The measure was criticised heavily by hospital superintendent Frank Bartolo, who said it could be fatal for patients with renal failure.

The dispute revolves around staff shortages, the failure to provide staff meals and the lack of a nurses' professional warrant.

Mr Cini said he received a call from Mr Pace early yesterday morning enquiring why he did not consult him before making the comments to The Times.

"Mr Pace reminded me that I was honorary president and said he would be calling a council meeting to look into this. When I asked whether he was threatening to remove me, he hung up but I have reason to believe that this is the case," said Mr Cini, who also represents the union on the board of directors of the International Council of Nurses.

Questioned about this, Mr Pace confirmed that the union would be deciding on Mr Cini's future in the union. "It is up to the council to decide," he said.

Former union vice president Tommy Dimech stuck up for Mr Cini, describing the way he was being treated as "shameful". Mr Dimech, a nursing officer at Mater Dei Hospital, also slammed the directives, adding that his feeling was shared by a number of nurses.

"These directives would have very adverse effects on patients," he said.

Joe Zammit, the union's former media relations officer, also questioned why such tough directives had been issued.