I refer to Felix Galea's letter MUT And CMTU (November 29). The MUT would like to clarify some points for the benefit of discerning readers.

The MUT had decided to take the initiative and call for the formation of a TUC way before the manifestation which united all Maltese trade unions. The union then proceeded to contact trade union colleagues about its idea and an invite was sent to all trade-unions, of course including the CMTU and its affiliates.

Mr Galea's statements that "The MUT forgot to tell the CMTU" and "the MUT sulked when the CMTU invited it to tell" are incorrect and do not represent the whole truth.

An "urgent" council meeting of the CMTU was only called after another affiliate had already expressed in public that it did not consider the setting up of a TUC as a priority and that therefore, it was not on this union's agenda. Following this pronouncement, the President of the CMTU, William Portelli, called the said meeting. In his call for this "urgent" CMTU council meeting, Mr Portelli stated that the agenda concerned "MUT's untimely call for a TUC".

The President of the MUT contacted Mr Portelli objecting to the hasty call for a CMTU council and his biased statement on the MUT's initiative, when as chairman of the confederation he should have refrained from taking a position prior to the meeting.

Mr Bencini also informed Mr Portelli that the MUT still had to articulate its proposals for a TUC. In the circumstances, the MUT decided not to attend this meeting since the President of the Confederation had taken a stand a priori and thus the MUT's proposals were prejudiced from their inception, to say the least.

The MUT remains open to discuss its ideas for the formation of the TUC within the CMTU and with all other trade-union colleagues.

As a responsible trade union and an affiliate of the CMTU, the MUT has a sacrosanct duty to ensure that proceedings are carried out in a professional and ethical manner and not on an ad hoc and arbitrary basis.