The Malta Council for Economic and Social Development was unbalanced in favour of employers and only the representation of the trade union federation Forum would create a balance, General Workers' Union Tony Zarb said yesterday.

He explained that the tri-partite MCESD was composed of five members representing the government, another five representing employers and four representing workers.

"There is absolutely no need for the GWU to give up one of its two seats on the council because unions have one seat less than the employers, so what has to be done is an amendment to the law to balance out the government, employers and unions. Forum will be the workers' fifth seat," he said when contacted.

Forum is an umbrella organisation of 11 unions which together represent close to 12,000 workers. During a meeting last Friday, the council members rejected Forum's request to sit on the council.

Most of the council members complained Forum's inclusion would upset the current balance of representation. But the Forum unions argued there was no balance as workers' representatives had one seat less than employers.

The government and Forum had a heated exchange of statements on Sunday, with the unions accusing the government of dragging its feet over the issue for five years and passing the buck to the council.

Forum spokesman Paul Pace accused the government of paying lip service to social dialogue and a social pact while it turned its back on a confederation of 11 unions representing a wide range of workers.

The Parliamentary Secretariat for Consumers, Fair Competition and Public Consultation said the government could not "just impose a change on the structure of the MCESD". Although it had no objection to the request, its membership had to be unanimously agreed by all social partners.

It said that during Friday's meeting, Parliamentary Secretary Chris Said had suggested setting up a working group to discuss Forum's request, after which it would have recommended a change in the law governing the MCESD. This suggestion was rejected.

But Mr Zarb disagrees that the government should insist on finding consensus.

"It is true that the MCESD always worked by consensus but the government does not need consensus to create a balance between workers and employers. I am morally convinced the government is using this tactic because it knows there will never be consensus for the Forum to join," he said.

In a letter to Forum earlier this year, Dr Said said the MCESD had been set up by agreement between the social partners, who were its members. The government had agreed with the members that any expansion had to be done with their consensus and it was not in a position to breach its word through arbitrary imposition.

However, this agreement - if there ever was one - was just a verbal one, Mr Zarb said.

The Forum is composed of the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, 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.

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