Group of unions claim discrimination

A group of 11 trade unions have claimed that the failure to invite them to a consultation meeting on the budget was tantamount to discrimination.

The Maltese Unions' Forum complained it was left out of the invitation list for the business breakfast on Wednesday organised by the Finance Ministry and to which other trade unions and social partners had been invited. A Finance Ministry spokesman rebutted the allegation, saying it had placed adverts in four newspapers and "the invitation was open and anyone could attend".

The forum hit back saying it knew of other social partners that received an invitation to attend the business breakfast. It said it would be prepared to publish such invitations to prove they were being discriminated against.

Forum secretary Paul Pace, the president of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN), said the unions "would not tolerate such blatant discrimination".

He said he could not understand how, at a time when everyone was talking about social dialogue, the forum, whose member unions represented thousands of employees, kept being excluded from important meetings organised by the government and the Nationalist Party.

"This stance of exclusivity does not bode well for the sectors and professionals represented by the forum," he said.

The forum is composed of the MUMN, the Malta Union of Teachers, the University of Malta Academic Staff Association, the Union of Technical and Clerical Staff at the Malta Environment and Planning Authority, the Malta Aircraft Engineers' Union, the Union of Central Bank Employees, the Mepa Professionals' Union, the Enemalta Professional Officers' Union, the Union of Cabin Crew, the Association of Airline Pilots and the Union of Architects and Engineers in the Public Service.

The grouping does not form part of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, which counts as one of its members the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions, an umbrella organisation representing nine other unions.

Mr Pace said the forum was still waiting for a reply regarding its application to join the MCESD.

The MCESD is composed of representatives of the Malta Employers' Association, the Malta Chamber of Industry, Commerce and Enterprise, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises - GRTU, the General Workers' Union, the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin and the CMTU.