Should Malta have a trades union council? The General Workers’ Union as well as Forum, an organisation that has 11 trade unions as members, say yes but the GWU’s rival union, the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, thinks the time is not ripe for the setting up of a TUC. This obviously means that, once the UĦM has taken this stand, it is most unlikely a TUC would be set up in the foreseeable future for the UĦM is not just another union but one of the largest, if not the largest, union in the country.

As to which of the two unions, the GWU and the UĦM, is actually the largest, it is somewhat difficult to say because the registered trade union membership is not seen to be all that reliable. In any case, the problem is not over membership but over attitudes, rivalry, perceptions and the ongoing quest for new members. The GWU, now finding itself shorn of its former long-standing membership power base at the dockyard, is in a weaker position than the UĦM because it is obviously hard for it to branch out into non-industrial fields, which today present the largest potential for membership growth.

This is not the case for the UĦM, which started out as a clerical trade union in the public service but later opened its doors to all workers. The rivalry between the two has been keen throughout, as shown by the sniping that goes on against each.

The situation was made worse when the Malta Union of Teachers left the Confederation of Trade Unions and joined the Forum, effectively creating a parallel confederation.

So, instead of unity, the trade union movement saw greater fragmentation.

As it can well be expected, politics come into the equation as well, as the GWU is still a strong ally of the Labour Party. On the other hand, the UĦM is seen as sympathising with the party in government. Of course, the UĦM strongly denies any particular bias towards the Nationalist Party but the perception it sides with the PN is strong just the same. On sectoral levels, the two unions may, at times, well find themselves working together, to the benefit of members in particular organisations, but the picture changes at national level where the spirit of rivalry is usually strong.

In a situation that breeds mistrust, it is not difficult to understand why the UĦM has taken a stand against the setting up of a TUC.

The union’s general secretary, Gejtu Vella, expressed his fears when he said the mistaken perception was that a TUC would have the power to overrule government decisions through industrial action when it was not their intention to stall the government. Again, with the GWU being seen as a political opponent of the party in the government, it is not difficult to see how this perception developed. And, of course, keeping to this perception, the pendulum could swing with a change of government.

Much as the setting up of a council would appear to make sense, there do not seem to be good prospects for it to materialise as the relations among the unions generally are still relatively weak. What may help sow the seeds of greater cohesion, at least on main issues that crop up from time to time, is a sincere effort on the part of the trade union leaders in different camps to measure the words they use about each other.