State of the unions

So the General Workers' Union has declared war on the country. It has not only declared war on the Government, with whom it claims it has a dispute. It has also declared war on the private sector, with which it has no dispute.

The matter at issue: the closing down of Interprint, which now employs some three or four score workers, most of whom are said to have accepted some very generous terminal benefits.

It has also been said that the Government offered Interprint to the GWU for free; a claim that GWU chief Tony Zarb half denied and, as is his wont, half slipped out of. But what a sorry state the GWU is in! No wonder it is losing popularity and support.

Mr Zarb, the lone cavalier or Don Quixote (choose as you please), goes on fighting his battles in the heat of summer. He not only threatens a national strike, but says he will take to the streets.

When will he realise that the year is 2005 and that gone are the days of the streets which his union shared with its spouse, the Malta Labour Party? Militancy is a thing of the past. It is not acceptable in this day and age, except as a very last resort in really dire situations, which the present one certainly is not.

It went out with the dodo, as Mr Zarb should have done after the 2003 general elections, rather than bounce back and forth between resignation and re-election. The GWU really needs a breath of fresh air, with new blood, a modern vision and a renewed agenda, in keeping with the times.

But all this being said (perhaps somewhat lightheartedly), this GWU stance is highly irresponsible and very serious. And it is not serious for the Government or so much the private sector, but for the country as a whole, the economy, the welfare of workers and, possibly, even their employment.

Should a national strike be ordered - and presumably obeyed - then there will surely be wholesale lock-outs across the whole country. And who will suffer? The workers. No pay packet. No security.

And what will also suffer? The economy, the country. An economy that is already fragile and vulnerable; that is showing signs of a very slow recovery.

A disruption of and decrease in productivity will send the country back months. And all this: the whims of one man, or a few men at most. For goodness' sake be responsible!

What makes the GWU seem so much more anachronistic, negative and destructive, however, is the attitude and performance of the other major union in the country, the Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM).

This union is proactive. It looks forward to new ideas and solutions. It commissions serious studies which are untampered and transparent. Its major initiative, which, unfortunately, has not yet come to fruition - although it is understood that a renewed effort is to be made before the Council for Economic and Social Development - is the proposed social pact.

This is something positive. No wonder the UHM is growing from strength to strength. Its leaders have no personal agendas or ambitions. They can be progressive while still safeguarding and defending the interests of their members when necessary, and with all the strength required.

They have shown that the role of a union is more than just snarling and barking at the employer (that went out with Arthur Scargill and Co, though Mr Zarb has not noticed). It is to co-operate with Government, the social partners and employers where necessary.

What a pity, but that is the state of the unions in Malta today.