The Malta Union of Teachers' original idea to form a Trades Union Council has been toned down and a meeting for unions today will only discuss how they can work better together.
MUT president John Bencini confirmed that after proposing the idea in November, the union believes that Malta is not yet prepared to have one organisation representing all trade unions as would be the case with a TUC.
The TUC idea was, indeed, one which has brought about somewhat drastic consequences for the teachers' union. The suggestion was first floated only a few days after all trade unions united to oppose the proposed water and electricity tariffs.
But it was immediately shot down by the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin which had argued that the time was not ripe and there were more pressing issues to deal with. The Confederation of Maltese Trade Unions (CMTU) followed suit, with its president saying the proposal was "untimely".
This reaction developed into a series of bitter exchanges between the teachers' union and the confederation which ended up in the expulsion of the MUT from the CMTU.
When the teachers' union called on all Maltese trade unions to join it in an initiative to set up a TUC in November, it had said that it would hold an introductory meeting on December 5 to discuss ideas for the eventual formation of such a council.
However, when the schism between the unions appeared and then continued to widen, the MUT had postponed the meeting to today.
Contacted yesterday, Mr Bencini said the union had revised its plans for a TUC and instead called it an "inter-union relationship meeting".
He said their original idea was to form a TUC tailor-made for Malta, adding that there should be some form of unity between unions and the formation of a structure or forum where local trade unions could enhance co-operation.
The MUT, he explained, wants to continue the process so that Malta could, one day, have a Trades Union Council, a process which started three years ago when European Trade Union Council general secretary John Monks visited Malta. Back then, the unions committed themselves to that process, he said.
"There has to be something formal. Some form of statute or something of the sort. There are some issues on which there is agreement such as health and safety, research, employment and training. Unions are enthusiastic about this idea. We will be meeting tomorrow (today) to discuss the way forward," he said.
Mr Bencini also mentioned the possibility of a code of ethics for trade unions, an idea which saw its birth following the name-calling sessions in the tit-for-tat exchanges.
The MUT had said that today's meeting would be considered as an expression of interest from trade unions. Asked what it would do if some unions did not turn up, Mr Bencini said the show would have to go on.