It is not difficult to understand why some people are not all that excited about the setting up of a national trades union forum. The contemporary history of the island’s trade union movement is littered with so much infighting and rivalry that a move of this nature is bound to create a degree of circumspection.

The forum’s formation needs to be put in the context of such infighting and, also, past attempts to set up a trades union council. These had always come up against insurmountable hurdles.

A confederation of trade unions was rocked when one of its larger members left the trade union body some years ago, eventually leading to the setting up of another trade union federation. In this light, the setting up of the national forum, piloted by the President and the University’s Centre for Labour Studies, does represent a breakthrough, though it would be wise to give it some time to breathe first before describing it as historic.

No fewer than 22 trade unions have agreed to join the forum, including the three largest: the General Workers’ Union, Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin, and the Malta Union of Teachers. The UĦM was originally set up as a government clerical workers’ union but over time it grew to rival the GWU in strength. It is part of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions. The MUT, now a member of the Forum Unions Maltin, is the longest established trade union in Malta.

With the Labour Party in government, the GWU, its strongest ally, finds the environment more amenable to taking part in such a national organisation.

The aim of the newly-formed forum is to provide a platform for the exchange of ideas and for the discussion of such issues as occupational health and safety, threats of unemployment, active ageing, precarious work and even bullying at the workplace. On the face of it, these are subjects that do not normally stir any political emotions and should, therefore, be relatively easy for the unions to handle. Problems within the new forum will arise if unions competing for membership allow friction or disputes to spill over their work. Picking non-divisive subjects in the forum’s formative period will obviously help ensure a good start.

At least, a new channel has now been opened for the building of trust among the unions, as it was pointed out so well by Godfrey Baldacchino, chairman of the Centre for Labour Studies.

At the launch of the forum, the director of the centre, Manwel Debono, said the challenge for trade unions today was to remain relevant and not to focus on just their members’ issues and collective agreements. This is a good point. However, a number of trade unions, particularly the larger ones, have already taken such a challenge in their stride as they have shown so well over time through the initiatives they have taken and by their input in the national discussion over the government’s budget.

Their submissions are usually well thought out. They are also represented in the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development, which, incidentally, has just come under fire from the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry in its recently-launched Economic Vision for Malta.

Quite bluntly, the chamber has described the council as a “rudderless, irrelevant and inconsequential national institution”. But this is a different issue, best left to be dissected on its own.

Going back to the national trades union forum, this latest initiative ought to be given all the encouragement it needs to prove itself.

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