Representation on the MCESD

Lately Forum, a loose confederation of independent trade unions set up in 2004, has been vocal in its request to be represented in the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), Malta's national tripartite institution for social dialogue. The trade unions that sit on it are the General Workers' Union (GWU), the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin (UĦM) and the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU), an umbrella organisation comprising 10 unions among whom are the UĦM and the Malta Union of Bank Employees (MUBE). The UĦM, in spite of being an affiliate of CMTU, obtained its own specific representation on the MCESD.

These trade union organisations have been enjoying uninterrupted representation on the MCESD since its foundation in 1988. However, lately, another force has come to the fore under the name of Forum Unions Maltin. The initiative to form this loose organisation of independent unions was taken by the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN), Malta's fifth largest trade union in terms of membership and which has never been an affiliate of CMTU.

Forum comprises 11 trade unions, most of which are house unions representing clerical and professional staff. In January 2009 it received a boost when Malta Union of Teachers (MUT), Malta's third largest trade union, joined it after withdrawing its membership from CMTU following an inter-union dispute. At present Forum represents about 12 per cent of the Maltese unionised workers. This added strength has reinforced its demand to be represented on MCESD, which it has been making since its inception.

What made its demand more vociferous was the discrimination it alleged to have suffered at the hands of the Ministry of Finance. In the pre-budget consultation process Forum was not invited to the consultation meeting organised by the Ministry of Finance with the social partners. Its secretary stated that this omission was by design rather than by default and as such it was discriminatory. Alternattiva Demokratika has been giving its full support, categorically stating that denying Forum the opportunity to take part in the social dialogue process through MCESD was unfair and discriminatory.

In the meantime, the Malta Employers' Association (MEA) and the Chamber for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (GRTU) have stated that in order to accede to Forum's request, the unions have to agree to forfeit one of their seats. The GWU's secretary general retorted that the employers' representatives outnumber the trade union officials at MCESD.

According to the MCESD Act (Article 4) the Council shall be composed of "nine persons nominated by representative national employers' and workers' organisations' constituted bodies...". These nine persons at present comprise five representatives from the employers' associations and four from the trade unions. The employers' associations listed in the Government Gazette are MEA, The Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry which is a recent amalgamation of the Malta Federation of Industries and the Chamber of Commerce, still holding on to two seats allotted to the two organisations before the amalgamation, the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association (MHRA), and the GRTU. The GWU secretary general and Forum are suggesting an amendment to Article 4 by making a provision for another representative from the trade union movement. This added member, by being assigned to Forum, would bring parity of representation between employers and trade unions.

The trade union movement in Malta has so far been split into two groups with the GWU on one side and CMTU and its affiliates, notably the UĦM, the largest union within its fold, on the other. The Forum, feeling that it has now become a force to be reckoned with, may be adding a third dimension. Indeed its inclusion in MCESD would be an acknowledgement of the existence of a third force in the Maltese trade union movement.

The GWU has been tacitly giving Forum its support. These two trade union organisations have lately developed an affinity between them which is completely missing on the other side of the trade union movement. The two largest trade unions within the fold of Forum, namely MUMN and MUT, are seen as defaulters by CMTU and UĦM. Most of the old members of the MUMN are former members of UĦM who decided to set up their own union. The dispute of MUT with CMTU and its eventual withdrawal are recent enough for the wounds to be still festering.

These fissures within the trade union movement may be seen as acts of "separatists", a phrase used by the GRTU secretary general. The counter argument is that this fragmentation is a characteristic of the pluralism inherent in modern society. By pandering to this pluralism, MCESD might enhance rather than weaken its tripartitism. After all, MCESD does not have any legislative powers. Its aim is to "promote social dialogue and consensus among social partners on issues related to sustainable economic and social development" (MCESD Act Article 3). An additional member representing 12 per cent of the labour force in Malta may enhance rather than weaken its brokerage between government and civil society.

The author is an associate researcher at the Centre for Labour Studies at the University of Malta.