The Malta Police Association has welcomed news of a draft law that will finally give its members the right to be unionised.

Police officers are not being given the right to join a union of their choice

The association recalled that when it first suggested the unionisation of the force in 2005, it had also declared it would not insist on the right to strike.

Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici announced on Monday that the association would be able to apply to become a union but would not have the power of industrial action and would not be able to associate itself with any other union.

The association said it always preferred the option of being converted into a union rather than officers being allowed to join a union of their choice. Thus, officers would be able to elect their representatives.

The General Workers’ Union and the Forum unions’ confederation thought otherwise and said yesterday that allowing the association to become an in-house union was nothing but a “cosmetic change”.

Police officers, the GWU complained, were not being given the right to join a union of their choice.

The Labour Party spokesman for security, Michael Falzon, also criticised the government for not giving police officers such a choice.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said last Sunday the government had accepted that the association should be transformed into a union. This, he said, was a measure that would help the police make further strides forward.