What matters to the GWU
The GWU has business interests that conflict with workers’ interests
In an article published in The Sunday Times of Malta (March 2), the secretary general of the General Workers’ Union, Josef Bugeja expressed his gratitude towards the Labour government for legalising the irregular use by the union of its headquarters built on a piece of public land measuring 1,472 square metres in Valletta. The land had been generously leased by the Labour government for a perpetual ground rent of €801 (Lm344) yearly back in 1957.
The contract of lease limited the use of the headquarters to trade union activity and as a media house. However, once the union’s administration realised the business potential of the building, it began scheming its way to remove the restriction on its commercial use.
The GWU took advantage of the short term in office of a Labour government in the 1990s to have its lease amended in a way that it could sub-lease a part of its headquarters on condition that it retains a majority stake shareholding.
Eventually, the GWU expressed its interest with the Lands Department to purchase full-subleasing ownership but decided not to proceed with the deal when informed that it would cost €3.2 million.
The GWU changed course in 2010 when it purchased a property in A3 Towers, in Paola for €1.74 million, from which it raked millions of euros from public funds through the leasing of space to various government bodies and directorates since the Labour Party was elected in 2013.
Following a request for proposals issued by Transport Malta in 2014, the GWU was chosen from among six bidders to lease space in A3 Towers for €490,000 yearly, despite the bid not being the cheapest. In addition, Transport Malta paid €120,000 to the union before it started to use the leased space.
Besides, the GWU receives around €60,000 yearly from the state coffers for the leasing of offices at A3 Towers to the Human Rights Directorate.
The GWU also made a bid to lease space within its Valletta headquarters to be used as customer care offices by the government’s utilities billing ARMS Ltd, in response to a call for tenders that it issued in 2014. The union was chosen from among three bidders following an evaluation process carried out by persons holding official positions in both ARMS Ltd and the union.
ARMS Ltd and the GWU subsequently reached a barter agreement that they kept secret, whereby the GWU would sublease 350 square metres to ARMS Ltd for €61,500 yearly and use the generated rental money to settle some of its massive accumulated water and electricity bills, possibly running into hundreds of thousands of euros.
During the same time, the GWU entered into an agreement to sublease space within its headquarters to Kasco Foods, owned by the disgraced Keith Schembri.
In view of lack of action by the government to such breaches of contract by the GWU, the Nationalist opposition requested the auditor general to investigate.
Consequently, the National Audit Office compiled a report that concluded that the GWU had breached its contractual obligations. This report was tabled in parliament and legal proceedings by the attorney general against the union were recommended.
Not surprisingly, former attorney general Peter Grech remained passive while, as expected, the Labour government also failed to take action. Therefore, once again, the Nationalist opposition had to act by filing civil proceedings against the GWU’s violation of its lease conditions. This was confirmed by the court that annulled the subleasing agreements entered illegally into by the union.
The GWU has adopted an antagonistic attitude towards the PN since its inception- Denis Tanti
At this point, the Labour government was left with no option but to oblige the GWU to pay the sum established by an independent valuation of €1.99 million in order to have the legal right to sub-lease a designated minor part of its headquarters for commercial purposes. Had it not been for the Nationalist opposition this money would have remained in the union’s coffers instead of being rightfully passed over to the state.
Bugeja had the nerve to accuse the PN of being antagonistic towards the union when, in reality, as can be proved by history, it has been the other way round.
The GWU has adopted an antagonistic attitude towards the PN since its inception and has resorted to politically motivated industrial action with the ultimate intention of harming Nationalist governments.
The GWU openly supported the Labour Party in the 1947 general elections and, ahead of the June 1971 general elections, it ordered a ban on overtime and a series of strikes at the state-owned Malta Drydocks and Shipbuilding. The climax of these industrial actions was reached during the pre-electoral period when all work was halted, with the result that the enterprise was paralysed and the Nationalist government was brought to its knees.
During the turbulent 1970s, the GWU backed Dom Mintoff’s government’s arbitrary change in working conditions, including a reduction of six public holidays, and it became an accomplice in the onslaught on the militant trade unions. The union supported the government’s prohibition of partial industrial action and the use of members of the military disciplined Pioneer Corps and Dirgħajn il-Maltin corps to act as strike breakers.
The GWU spent 14 years statutorily fused to the Labour Party and its leadership has wielded considerable economic and political power in return for its support to the party.
In 2015, the GWU was given a tender by the government to run the controversial community work scheme, supposedly to train long-time unemployed persons, for which it charges the state €112.40 (excluding VAT) per person.
While the union has extracted millions of euros in profits from this scheme, the workers concerned have been given precarious employment conditions, including less pay than their work colleagues for the same work.
When Archbishop Charles Scicluna, as it is his duty, showed concern about this social injustice and expressed his desire that the GWU’s surplus passes to the workers concerned, the greedy union administration most shamefully resorted to public derogatory comments directed at the archbishop.
As has been openly stated by GWU insider Jeremy Camilleri, a former section secretary, the union has business interests that conflict with workers’ interests, while its top officials put the interests of the Labour Party, big business and the union itself over those of its members and the Maltese workers.
Denis TantiDenis Tanti is a former assistant director at the Ministry of Health.