The election for the new executive council of the GRTU - held last Sunday and Monday - produced six new faces and resulted in the defeat of six outgoing council members.
A total of 680 GRTU members voted in the election which was held after the organisation's AGM. GRTU sources told The Times Business that the 680-strong voter turnout was considerably high compared to previous elections and that GRTU saw its membership increase by 394 in 2009. This is being interpreted by many observers as a reflection of today's difficult economic climate.
The new council members are Michael Galea, Silvana Aquilina Naudi, Stephen Galea, Sergio Camilleri, Emanuel Desira and Joseph Zerafa. Michael Galea, who has an MBA, is a Gozitan businessman and the president of the Auto Dealers Association. Ms Aquilina Naudi, who has an MA in Psychology, is the owner of a Valletta Waterfront restaurant. Her election is seen as a boost for the restaurant section of the GRTU which has recently been strengthened by more members. Stephen Galea is the president of the Vine Growers Association, and represents the growing agricultural producers' interest in the GRTU.
Mr Camilleri is a petrol station owner and car dealer, Mr Desira is a Valletta retailer and importer of menswear, while Mr Zerafa is a Mosta retailer and hi-fi importer.
The outgoing council members who were not re-elected are Charles Borg, Joe Tabone, Charles J. Busuttil, Effie Micallef, Joseph Hili and Mark Saliba.
Paul Abela, the president of the GRTU, was re-elected to the council with 53.87 per cent of the vote, the highest received by any of the candidates.
Highlighting the GRTU's priorities for this year, director-general Vince Farrugia told the organisation's AGM on Sunday that the main focus would be on the environment, public transport, freight charges, Vat, excise duties, food labelling and consumer issues, health and lifestyle, animal by-products, information and communication technologies, collective redress, data and privacy protection, market information, international trade, customs reform, payment systems, SMEs and enterprise policy and social affairs.