Nurses’ strike over continued staff shortages escalates

The industrial dispute between the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) and the government over staff shortages and other shortcomings in the nursing field escalated in November 2008. However, the threat of more serious strike measures was averted after a meeting with the country’s Minister for Social Policy later that month. In a related development, a dispute broke out within MUMN over its former president’s criticisms of the union’s hard-hitting strike measures.

Background to dispute

In October 2007, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) and the government signed an agreement seeking, among other things, to resolve the pressing problem of understaffing in the nursing sector. MUMN highlighted the fact that about 300 more nurses were required to resolve this problem. Nearly a year later, in August 2008, media reports indicated that the government had started the process for the recruitment of additional nurses, especially those needed in the intensive care section and in the renal unit. Extra nursing staff were also required for operating theatres and, in fact, some theatres were not being used due to the lack of nursing staff. The government remarked that with the employment of more nurses, the workload would be better managed and patients would continue to receive the best possible service and care from health professionals.

Industrial action escalates

However, on 30 October 2008, MUMN ordered its members to take industrial action over the continued staff shortages in Maltese hospitals and health centres. The industrial action was taken on a relatively minor scale, wherein the union members were instructed to decline non-nursing duties and stop taking non-emergency blood samples. In response, the Maltese government claimed that the strike directives were frivolous and did not make sense, insisting that it was untrue that it had failed to implement the collective agreement seeking to resolve the staff shortage problems. A government press release also accused MUMN of causing unnecessary problems for patients.

In November 2008, the dispute over the staff shortage problem escalated between the government and MUMN. The union warned the government that unless more nurses were recruited, industrial action would be stepped up in all hospitals and health centres. MUMN also threatened that it would instruct its members to stop treating patients when they were understaffed, to stop admitting patients in hospitals and in homes for elderly persons, and to shut down district health centres. Nurses also warned that they would not change the dressings of patients who were not in their wards and that they would only operate on a work-to-rule basis. In addition, nurses threatened to walk out of operating theatres if the government went ahead with the recruitment of nursing technicians instead of nurses for operating theatres. This recruitment was intended as a stop-gap measure to enable the government to open more operating theatres; however, MUMN objected to it because the qualifications of nursing technicians were deemed to be inferior to those of nurses.

The General Workers’ Union (GWU), Malta’s largest union, backed MUMN in its dispute with the government, while reiterating that solutions were best sought through dialogue and negotiations.

Apart from the staff shortage problems, the dispute was also related to the government’s failure to provide for staff meals and the lack of a professional warrant. The President of MUMN, Paul Pace, had also asked the government to make a number of changes to the nursing course in order to attract more students to this profession.

Reactions to strike

In response to the strike demands, a spokesperson for the Ministry for Social Policy, Health, the Elderly and Community Care highlighted that the legal notice to grant nurses warrants had been approved and that the government was doing its utmost to recruit both local and foreign nurses to alleviate the shortage problems. The Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Joe Cassar, also added that 122 nurses had been employed in the last year alone.

Meanwhile, the superintendent of Malta’s Mater Dei Hospital, Frank Bartolo, warned that if nurses were to follow the directives issued by the MUMN, patients could die, especially those requiring urgent renal dialysis.

The industrial action was also questioned by the former MUMN president and current Honorary President, Rudolph Cini. Mr Cini remarked that although trade unions had every right to defend their members, they should do so responsibly while observing their professional ethics.

Dispute within MUMN

After Mr Cini’s comments, MUMN considered expelling the former president from the union. MUMN officials claimed that their considerations were linked to his decision to contest the elections for the European Parliament. MUMN’s final position on this matter had not yet been made public at the time of writing. Subsequently, Mr Cini called for the resignation of his successor, Mr Pace, for breaching the confidentially of the union’s council and for abusing his powers. A fringe committee was set up supporting the former president who was being threatened with expulsion and in order to monitor the situation. A spokesperson for this fringe committee claimed that the union’s statute allows for the incumbent president to be removed if enough union members wanted this.

Dispute with government ends

On 20 November 2008, after MUMN suspended its industrial action, the Minister for Social Policy, John Dalli, agreed to meet with union officials. In a joint statement issued after the meeting, the two sides declared that they shared the common interest of improving the health service and decided to set up a committee headed by the minister to tackle the various issues raised by the trade unions.

Anna Borg, Centre for Labour Studies