Nurses' union pre-empts breakaway group

The nurses' union yesterday called an extraordinary general meeting for Monday in an attempt to quash rumours about the union's leadership.

The Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses said it called the meeting to reassure members that any allegations about the union's leadership are unfounded, general secretary Colin Galea said.

The union's decision pre-empted a move by eight former council members who have been trying to collect enough members' signatures to call an extraordinary general meeting to move a motion of no-confidence in the union leadership.

The group of former council members resigned last month after disagreeing with the directives the union issued in a dispute with health authorities.

The situation deteriorated after a former council member, Corinne Ward, stepped down saying she had only learnt about a 10-year, biennial grant of €58,000, which had been in place for some time, during a meeting between the union and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi before the general election.

On Tuesday, the union filed a judicial protest against Ms Ward asking her to withdraw allegations it felt were aimed at harming the union and its leadership at a very sensitive time.

Mr Galea said yesterday that Monday's meeting was called after several members approached council members asking them to clarify the situation.

"Several members asked us about these rumours on the union's leadership and finances and we wanted to settle the matter," he said.

During the meeting, the union will go into detail about its financial situation and expenditure since the council was elected in March 2007.

The decision to call the meeting was also taken because the council had heard that the former members had not collected half of the signatures required.

According to the union's statute, a request for an extraordinary general meeting to be held must be signed by at least 25 per cent of the members. Mr Galea claimed that fewer than half of the required 600 signatures have been collected.

"We have nothing to hide and will explain everything during Monday's meeting," he said.

The union said it would not tolerate any attempts to create division within its ranks for the sake of members' personal agendas.

It criticised the attacks on the union's leadership, especially when it was involved in sensitive discussions with the Health Ministry.

Former council member Tommy Dimech, who is heading the breakaway group, denied having any intentions to create a rift. "We always wanted to strengthen the union but we have questions that were never answered," he said. If the questions are answered at Monday's meeting, all's well and good but if not, it's a problem."

He added that the group had collected half the number of signatures it needed, about 300, in less than a week.