Tony rules OK

As the bard once wrote, "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them". In my mind, there is no doubt that Tony Zarb's greatness belongs to the third category!

Under his stewardship, the GWU is destined to pass through some defining moments that will drastically change the trade union-employer relationship as has been hitherto known in Malta. Considering the steadfastness and the determination characteristic of Prime Minister Gonzi, that is how I read the tea leaves.

Still basking in the electoral 'triumph' that confirmed him as GWU secretary-general, Mr Zarb must be thinking that the approval of the GWU's general conference delegates - duly influenced by the MLP, as has been practically acknowledged - is tantamount to a national consensus on his opting for a militant course leading to the premature toppling of the present government... as he himself blurted out when addressing the assembled crowd at the end of the protest march organised by the GWU last week.

After the dismal failure of the "Issa Daqshekk" and the "Kontra l-Giljottina" campaigns, Tony and his troupe have still not learnt their lesson. Emmanuel Micallef, the man who unsuccessfully challenged Mr Zarb in the GWU internal elections, had wryly commented in one of his interviews in the press that the union had achieved nothing through these campaigns, except an increase in the public's negative perception of it.

The notion that with the re-election of Tony Zarb, the GWU and the MLP only managed to play in the hands of the PN strategists at Pietà now does not seem as far-fetched as it seemed when it was first mooted. Some of these strategists might even be sarcastically telling themselves that Tony rules OK!

Incredibly, Mr Zarb, the higher echelons of the GWU administration and its two Maltese-language newspapers keep on criticising the government for allegedly espousing the same stances that in actual fact have been adopted by the GWU - arrogance and intimidation. It is, to say the least, facetious, for the GWU to defend its position by declaring that no one has the right to intimidate its members when the message that it has been repeatedly sending was simply one intimidating both the government and private employers.

This attitude has already led the GWU into the Sea Malta debacle. In this case, the GWU typically painted itself into a corner from which it could not escape unscathed to the detriment of its own members. Rather than admitting this harsh reality, on Thursday the GWU daily l-Orizzont announced that the government wants to liquidate Sea Malta - Il-Gvern irid ixolji s-Sea Malta. This was a weak attempt at covering up the union's responsibility in this occasion.

Mr Zarb continued to wallow in his own mess when he intimidated the would-be buyers of Sea Malta - Grimaldi - that the GWU will not allow their new company to operate from Malta unless it employed the former Sea Malta employees who lost their job. This is the way Tony treats someone who is investing €20 million in a shipping line serving Malta!

The assessment that the present administration is certainly not enjoying a wave of popular support may well be correct. But this in no way leads to the conclusion - as Mr Zarb seems to have done - that the mood of the country is in harmony with his boisterous, hostile and rabble-rousing ways. Using the threat of industrial action to blackmail the Prime Minister to meet him and adopt his suggestions is not on. Yet Mr Zarb thinks that he is championing the cause of the GWU members - whatever that may be - if he adopts such boorish tactics.

Mr Zarb stuck to this arrogant and negative attitude in the MCESD meeting held on Thursday when he 'demanded' a commitment from Government that would mean going back on the decisions announced in the budget!

As for the Prime Minister, he must never forget the lessons of the PN's electoral defeats in 1971 and 1996. A concoction of the two spectres of these two election defeats that permanently haunt the PN might well lead to another historical electoral upset.

In 1971 the GWU staged an eight-month-long industrial action at the Drydocks and this was only lifted after a change of government, even though the union hardly got any of its demands from the Mintoff administration. The perception then was that the Borg Olivier administration was tired and weak and a new government would be in a better position to overcome the country's problems. The rest, of course, is history.

Yet Lawrence Gonzi in 2005 is not George Borg Olivier in 1970. Nor is Tony Zarb in 2005, Lorry Sant in 1970!

The showdown between a Nationalist administration and the GWU has long been coming and many think it is overdue. For many years, the Fenech Adami-led PN administrations bought industrial peace at a very big cost with the taxpayers footing the bill - even though one can argue that industrial peace has a high economic value.

Perhaps this is the best moment in the history of Malta's political development for this showdown to happen. All that Dr Gonzi needs is to stick to his guns, come hell and high water.

Mr Zarb's antics should be exposed for what they are - puerile attempts at abusing his position at the helm of the GWU to anoint himself king who rules over this island and whose demands must be met by every one. Many, of course, know that this is only a temporary stance until he is demoted to king-maker and Alfred Sant takes over!

The corollary of this stratagem is that Dr Gonzi has nothing to lose and everything to win from this showdown.

micfal@maltanet.net