[attach id=272186 size="medium"]GWU general secretary Tony Zarb. Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi[/attach]
The general secretary of the country’s biggest trade union, Tony Zarb, said yesterday the upcoming national congress in October would be his last.
A General Workers’ Union spokesman explained Mr Zarb, 59, would be past retirement age by the time the next congress came around in four years’ time.
Mr Zarb told the biennial conference of the union’s maritime section he had started as secretary of the port and transport workers’ section in 1985 and that “made him what I am now”. He became general secretary on January 5, 1999.
At the conference yesterday, Mr Zarb lashed out at a statement by Air Malta CEO Peter Davies that the airline could use a “strategic partner” to help alleviate costs.
In an interview on travel industry website Skift, Mr Davies said it made sense for airlines to forge alliances and cut costs.
He said Air Malta was not in a position to join an alliance but having a strategic partner to “dilute” costs and encourage different growth was “an important step forward.”
But Mr Zarb was not impressed, noting Malta had spent millions of euros to save the airline – and pay Mr Davies’ generous salary – only to be told now it needed a partner.
The airline chief should be “ashamed” of his statement, which made one wonder whether the restructuring process had failed, Mr Zarb said.
He also called on employees of public transport operator Arriva “not to lose hope”.
“Don’t fall for those who are trying to separate us from you. They are doing this after a meeting was held with Nationalist Party leader Simon Busuttil. It shows how their attitude towards the GWU hasn’t changed.”
He urged workers to remain united and always keep in mind the element of “solidarity”, which had deteriorated over the years.
Don’t fall for those who are trying to separate us from you
Turning to precarious employment, Mr Zarb appealed to the authorities to look out for employers trying to circumvent recent changes in the law protecting employees.
The Government should not grant public tenders to individuals who had been found guilty of precarious employment, he said.
He also had praise for outgoing section secretary Charles Agius: “I know it wasn’t easy for you but you always worked hard for the section and never put yourself first.”