Updated 5.10pm

The Labour party has no plans to force employees to join a union, deputy leader Chris Fearne has said, in a departure from what the party manifesto has described as a push for “mandatory” trade union membership. 

A proposal in the Labour manifesto states that the party is "in favour of introducing mandatory trade union membership, as previously proposed by the main unions in the country."

It goes on to note that, if elected into government, it will "start discussions with social partners on the implementation of the measure." 

The proposal has sparked alarm among employers.

But when asked by Times of Malta on Wednesday to clarify the proposal, Fearne said that the party wasn’t looking to force people to join unions but to safeguard their rights should they wish to do so. 

“Unfortunately it is a fact that there are whole sectors of employees who are afraid of joining unions, we want to put a stop to this and make sure that anyone who wants to join a union will have access to that right,” Fearne said. 

“The manifesto also says that this is a proposal to be carried out in discussion with our social partners. We are not looking to do this through imposition but through discussion.”

“The ultimate aim is to safeguard union membership for every citizen who seeks access to it.” 

Earlier on Wednesday the Malta Employers Association (MEA), Malta Chamber of Commerce, and Chamber of SMEs all declared themselves against the proposal, calling it “regressive and undemocratic”. 

Prime Minister Robert Abela was also questioned about the issue during the leaders' Chamber of Commerce debate and similarly conceded that this was a matter that needed to be discussed with social partners before implementation. 

He said the matter will be discussed among employers and worker representatives at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development but insisted that the most vulnerable workers needed to be protected.

During the same debate, Opposition Leader Bernard Grech acknowledged that the PN had initially made such a proposal in a pre-budget document but had changed its mind following consultation and now believed union membership should be purely a matter of choice. 

Grech described mandatory union membership as "communist". 

This is not the first time the issue of mandatory union membership has stroked controversy. 

In 2019, the General Workers Union included the proposal as part of its pre-budget document, saying the measure would serve to further discourage precarious employment and exploitation in sectors where unionisation is very low, like construction and tourism.