Watching the leaders of our major trade unions standing side by side and walking shoulder to shoulder through the streets of Valletta last week was a very rare occasion if not a unique event. I could not help raising my eyebrows. Although nowadays I am somehow detached from their core activities I still happen to know the people and the way these organisations operate both in the public eye and behind the closed doors of their headquarters.
It was too good to be true!
Why should they only join forces when in troubled waters? They claimed that it was the utility tariffs, which the government imposed arbitrarily, that had triggered the urgent necessity to organise a show of force. Strangely enough, the GWU had to succumb to the pressure exerted by the other trade unions and cancelled its original plans to hold a demonstration on its own. The UĦM was only willing to participate in a manifestation organised by the unions and on condition that political parties were not invited to take part. They had it their way. It was a matter of a win-win situation.
The GWU is now perceived as a union that is willing to share its pie with its tradeunionistic competitors or adversaries whereas the UĦM could boast of its independence from any political allegiance because it had publicly demonstrated its disagreement with this government as much as it did with past governments. Unfortunately, the other unions were simply following in the footsteps of their big brothers.
This was nothing historical except that the UĦM joined the fray to walk along the streets of the capital. There were other occasions in the past when the other unions participated in mass activities organised by the GWU. Aware of the poor attendance at the manifestation, we were told that the scope of the event was simply to read out a joint resolution asking the government for a revision of the utility tariffs or else demanding compensation to alleviate the burden. The end result was the invitation by the Prime Minister to hold further talks with the trade unions; something which the Chamber for Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU had managed to obtain through exchange of correspondence. But the unions, or most of them, also wanted to convey a message of solidarity and unity.
The time was ripe to start the process of setting up the long-awaited Trade Union Council. That was the projected impression. In fact, the leader of the Malta Union of Teachers took the initiative to invite all trade unions to attend a meeting in two weeks' time specifically aimed to set the ball rolling in the formation of the TUC (Malta).
Had I not known of the boiling water that characterises the meetings of the CMTU (the Confederation of Malta Tade Unions) and had I not been aware of the vivid antagonism that exists between the UĦM and the GWU, I would have fallen into the trap of believing that this was a serious attempt to start experiencing solidarity within the local trade union movement. But I am not a fool and as long as the major trade unions or some of them would remain under the present leadership there is no hope of forming a trade union council. The reason is simple: It is a matter of personalities clashing! This is so evident even when one reads between the lines of what the leaders of the unions had to say in the aftermath of the "historic" manifestation.
The CMTU president is in favour of a forum of trade unions that focuses on research and the rationalisation of resources (half baked council).
The UĦM general secretary laments that a TUC could hinder the element of competition between the unions and openly declared that its formation is not a priority according to his union agenda (no deal).
The GWU head claims that unions could work together on ad hoc issues such as health and safety but the formation of a TUC needs to take its natural course to come into force (time immemorial, perhaps).
The leader of the Malta Union of Teachers believes that a TUC could be established now even with the exclusion of some trade unions (solidarity at its best).
Could there be any divisive approach worse than this?
United We Stand! The best fiction story ever told and the worst reality manifestation ever experienced in our trade union history!
manuelmicallef@onvol.net