Labour motion for Forum unions to join MCESD

The opposition has presented a motion in Parliament calling for the Forum group of trade unions to be allowed to become a member of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD).

The Forum is composed of the Malta Union of Teachers, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, the Airline Pilots' Association, the Association of Airline Engineers, the Union Ħaddiema Bank Ċentrali, the Union of Cabin Crew, the Union Periti u Inġinieri fis-Servizz Pubbliku, the Union Professjonisti Awtorità tal-Ippjanar, the University of Malta Academic Staff Association, the Union Technical and Clerical Workers (Mepa) and the Enemalta Professional Officers Union. They have a total of some 12,000 members.

The motion, presented by Gino Cauchi, notes that the legislation on the creation of the MCESD, enacted in 2001, provided that there should be fair and balanced representation of employers and unions, but this was currently not the case and the workers were under-represented.

While the government was saying that the agreement of the current members was needed for new organisations to be given a seat on the council, this was not mentioned in the law.

The law should therefore be amended to bring about a balance.