Moves to oust GWU deputy general secretary

Efforts are being made within the General Workers Union to oust Manwel Micallef, one of the union's two deputy general secretaries, sources said yesterday. Mr Micallef, like the other members of the union administration, faces an election at the union's national congress next month. Officials are elected for a four-year term.

The section secretaries of the union have all been confirmed. It will shortly be the turn of the president, vice-president, general secretary and two deputy general secretaries to be elected in October.

Two factions are currently lobbying delegates: the militants and the moderates. Mr Micallef belongs to the latter faction and is known to have the open support of media and services section secretary Karmenu Vella and three other section secretaries.

Mr Micallef recently wrote an article in the union paper It-Torca in which he outlined his vision for the union, and said that brains should work harder than brawn. Mr Micallef's article echoed the tone set by Mr Vella, who two weeks before made a speech that contrasted sharply with a confrontational one made by GWU secretary general Tony Zarb on the same occasion.

Mr Vella had spoken about the need "for everyone to come out of his shell and to make an effort to face the inevitable process of change".

"We cannot keep smelling a rat in everything and everyone, and we need to work together and co-operate rather than being in confrontational mood all the time," Mr Vella said.

Mr Vella had said the country had chosen the "luxury of indulging in conflicts" and of wasting ten years debating whether Malta should join the EU or not. In stark contrast, Mr Zarb said the union was ready to confront the government. He shifted the blame on Government, arguing that the union preferred dialogue to confrontation, but as always, it was the government that was making the union go on the warpath. Writing in l-Orizzont last Thursday, Mr Zarb claimed that "some people" were saying and writing things to please sections of the media, which in turn attacked those who "spoke in a way that does not go down well with the media". He also argued that whoever was writing or speaking to seek praise, was betraying the workers.

The only two who have been commended by sections of the media were Mr Micallef and Mr Vella, and Mr Zarb's article was seen as an attack on these two. Only the day before, union president Salvu Sammut spoke on the need for the union to keep its militant roots while Gejtu Mercieca, the chemical and energy workers' section secretary, argued that the union was being proved right in its anti-EU campaign. His article was also interpreted as an attack on Mr Micallef and Mr Vella for airing moderate views.

Mr Sammut had already written another article which many, including union members, interpreted as an attack on Mr Micallef. Mr Micallef had asked Mr Sammut to declare he was not referring to him, something Mr Sammut declined to do. In protest, Mr Micallef stopped attending the central administration meetings. The matter is still pending.

In the meantime, Mr Micallef's name was recently mentioned as a prospective candidate to replace Mr Zarb. Since then, it is being argued that Mr Micallef's post could be contested by Roberto Cristiano. Some feel that he could also be contested by Mr Mercieca. Mr Cristiano was always considered as one of the union's moderate people and it was a surprise that his name surfaced as a possible candidate to replace Mr Micallef.

Delegates are being told that there is no room for moderates within the union and efforts are being made to undermine anyone who publicly or internally shows that the union should change its old ways of doing things.