The Opposition has presented a motion in Parliament calling for the FORUM group of trade unions to be allowed to become a member of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD).

The FORUM is composed of the Malta Union of Teachers, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, Airline Pilots Association, the Association of Airline Engineers, the Union Haddiem Bank Centrali, the Union of Cabin Crew, the Union Periti u Inginiera fis-Servizz Pubbliku, the Union Professjonalisti Awtorita tal-Ippjanar, the University of Malta Academic Staff Association, the Union Technical and clerical workers (MEPA) and the Enemalta Professional Officers Union. They have some 12,000 members.

The motion notes that the law on the creation of the MCESD, enacted in 2001, provided that there should be fair and balanced representation of employers and unions, but this was currently not the case and the workers were under-represented.

While the government was saying that the agreement of the current members was needed for new organisations to be given a seat on the council, this was not mentioned in the law.

The law should therefore be amended to bring about a balance.