Unions are destabilising industrial relations, not because of conflicts with employers but because of the rivalry between them, the Malta Employers’ Association has complained.

The MEA president, Arthur Muscat, has called for inter-union conflicts to be resolved with urgency.

“We are very much concerned about the state of industrial relations in Malta, not as much by the relationship between employers and unions but by the manner in which unions are treating each other,” Mr Muscat told the association’s annual general meeting.

Conflict within the trade union camp was of no benefit to anybody, including employers, he added.

That unions now admit collective bargaining has become a matter of self-preservation, with a disregard of what employees deserve,is alarming

Quoting a recent statement by Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin general secretary Josef Vella, in which he said unions were ending up negotiating according to what other trade unions were offering rather than what employees deserved, Mr Muscat insisted rivalry over union recognition was harming competitiveness. “The fact that unions themselves now have the courage to admit that the collective bargaining exercise has become a matter of self-preservation, with a disregard of what employees actually deserve in return for their productivity and the company’s performance, is alarming.

“The government should take such statements very seriously,” Mr Muscat said.

The implication, he added, was that the current state of collective bargaining within the context of intense union rivalry could drive companies out of business.

“Workers, who are aspiring for better conditions of employment through a collective agreement, may risk losing their livelihood as a result of these wars between unions,” Mr Muscat said.

The MEA chief said the government was wrong to set up a board to determine union recognition separately from the Industrial and Employment Relations Department.

The MEA, he added, presented concrete proposals for changes in the law on how union recognition issues could be resolved. “The MEA is motivated by responsibility, not popularity.”