Collective bargaining units would not work in practice and are impossible to cover by legislation, the Malta Employers’ Association is warning.
The Employment Relations Board recently proposed to the constituted bodies that a minimum of six employees could form their own collective bargaining unit – but while acknowledging that such units could make operational sense in some contexts, the MEA is adamant that they should be applied only on a case-by-case basis.
“There are many cases where companies have very diverse groups of employees with very diverse working conditions – look at airlines, hotels and hospitals. We have numerous examples of companies with multiple house unions for industrial and non-industrial staff,” MEA director general Joe Farrugia explained.
The problem is that legislating would be too blunt a tool and could end up with medium-sized companies being split into several collective bargaining units, which would make management and industrial relations a logistical nightmare.
“Imagine. In theory, a company with 50 employees could have eight collective bargaining units!” he said.
The units could have advantages and disadvantages for the various stakeholders. Sometimes it would be easier for management to reach agreements with smaller units as their needs might be quite specific. And in some cases, the units could whittle away the majority representation of a union to the advantage of the second-largest. But the mention of recognition sparks a strong reaction from Mr Farrugia.
The proposal is part of a long-overdue review of the Employment and Industrial Relations Act which started last year – and union recognition is one of the “crucial aspects”, in his view.
The MEA would like to see union recognition legislated, repeating its oft-cited concern that inter-union rivalry was causing more disputes than union/management clashes.
As it is, when there are claims by a union that it represents the majority of employees, especially when there are both industrial and non-industrial groups, it must go to the Industrial Tribunal – and in the absence of guiding legislation, decisions could be anomalous.
The MEA has long argued that it wants proof of paid-up membership and not a ballot by employees of which union it wants to represent them. In the past, there have been employees who are not members of either trade union (or of both) who still vote, he said. In fact, one of the controversial proposals being put forward by the board is for those who opt to stay out of a union to still pay towards a fund as they ultimately still benefit from the package negotiated by the union.
The General Workers’ Union is also firmly against the inclusion of any definition of collective bargaining units in the legal notice, stressing that such issues should be the competence of the Industrial Tribunal and that each and every case should be considered on its own merits.
“The GWU is strongly against fragmentation within the places of work, as this creates unnecessary tension among the different categories of employees and among the different unions representing the workers at the place of work. The GWU also strongly believes that such fragmentation will put in danger the harmony that exists within our national industrial relations system and mechanism,” it said.
The proposals have now been sent to Civil Dialogue Minister Helena Dalli, along with the feedback from other constituted bodies.