Pride leads GWU to reckless game

The General Workers' Union's attempt to recapture the right to be the recognised union representing port workers in their relation with the Freeport seems to me a reckless and ill-timed gamble.

The Malta Dockers Union (MDU) was formed when these workers decided to quit the GWU and form their own union after a series of internal problems and squabbles - a situation that has been the hallmark of the GWU ever since the Tony Zarb-Geitu Mercieca alliance took absolute control of the union.

The hiving off of two of its important components that led to the formation of two new unions must have hurt its pride considerably. A GWU attempt to gain lost ground was therefore always on the books.

Like all trade unions, the GWU jealously guards its status of being the recognised union in several entities and companies and regard this status as sacrosanct, reacting frantically to any attempts that may lead to losing it.

I remember that a courtesy visit from a Union Haddiema Maghudin delegation a few days after I was appointed Water Services Corporation chairman prompted the GWU to send me a protest in writing accusing me of attempting to undermine its status as the recognised union. I was doing no such thing and thought the GWU was being silly, until I realised its action was simply a ploy aimed at gaining written assurance from me to the effect that its status was not being questioned.

The issue of which union has sole recognition with an employer - theoretically a simple mathematical calculation that shows which union has the support of the majority of employees - is one that no employer enjoys getting involved in, as in clashes between unions on this issue, the employer often ends up being an innocent victim.

In theory the resolution of such issues is simple: the union that enjoys the support of the majority of employees is the recognised union. In practice, matters are more complicated when there are a number of employees who have dual union membership and are on the books of both. Mathematically this means that two unions can claim the support of the majority.

Such a dilemma can only be resolved by a secret vote in which each employee has to opt for one union. In this case the GWU claims to have organised such a vote, but this should have never been organised by a party in the dispute. A photograph of a polling 'booth' published last week in The Malta Independent on Sunday shows that those manning it could easily follow the way the vote went. Curiously, neither the GWU nor its papers have bothered to comment on this photo.

The GWU has declared an 'industrial dispute' on the issue, when the Freeport just followed the advice of the registrar of Trade Unions who inspected the books of the MDU and concluded that it enjoys the support of the majority of port workers.

I do not use the word 'employees' because the port workers, who are at the centre of the dispute, are not in fact Freeport employees. They are self-employed dockers with a hybrid legal status. Moreover, the Freeport is insisting that it has no industrial dispute with the GWU and therefore maintains that the GWU's directives are illegal.

These directives could end up endangering the Freeport's business as well as posing a risk to the livelihood of the hundreds of real Freeport employees who are simply spectators of this reckless adventure.

The timing of this 'dispute' is uncanny. The legal adviser of both the MDU and another trade union that were formed by those who left the GWU was George Abela, who had also been ousted from the union by the Tony Zarb-Geitu Mercieca alliance after many years of loyal service. In fact, I understand that Abela's former legal office is still providing professional services to these unions.

Is it simply sheer coincidence that the GWU started blatantly attempting to unravel what Abela wove within a week of him being appointed President? Given this background, why did MLP deputy leader Toni Abela decide to appeal to Abela to help solve the dispute, something that would embroil the President in this mess? Should Toni Abela's plea be taken at its 'innocent' face value or was it goaded by some cynical ulterior motive? The plot thickens.

With the current global economic woes, the Freeport and Malta can hardly afford the consequences of the actions taken by the GWU locally and those that are being threatened on a wider international front: action abroad against the company that owns the Freeport by foreign unions that sympathise with the GWU's predicament.

However, the pride of the GWU and the Tony Zarb-Geitu Mercieca alliance obviously takes precedence over all other considerations.

micfal@maltanet.net