The application by Forum Unions Maltin (FORUM), a loose confederation of trade unions set up in 2004, to become an affiliate of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), has once again revived the sharp divisions that exist within the Maltese trade union movement. The Confederation of Malta Trade Unions opposed the application, straining its bitter relationship with the General Workers’ Union. However, since the FORUM application was accepted, relations have calmed.
The Maltese industrial relations scene changed when Forum Unions Maltin (FORUM), a loose confederation of trade unions, was set up in 2004. It was later reinforced by the affiliation of the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT) in 2009, after it withdrew from the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU).
Prior to the emergence of FORUM, the Maltese trade union movement was split between two major umbrella organisations:
With the setting up of FORUM a third dimension was added. This new organisation, characterised by an affinity between FORUM and GWU, led to squabbles whenever FORUM tried to assert its new found strength by attempting to become a member of national and international associations where GWU and the CMTU were already represented.
One of these is the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), Malta’s national tripartite institution for social dialogue. So far FORUM, in spite of various attempts, has failed to become a member of this institution (MT0912019I).
In the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), FORUM was more successful. It was admitted as an observer member during the ETUC Executive Committee meeting held on 28 April 2011, and was to become a full member in October 2011.
During this interim period (May to October 2011), ETUC Secretary General John Monks urged the Maltese trade unions to take initiatives to resolve their disputes. The process that led to FORUM’s acceptance by ETUC revived the sharp divisions that exist between GWU and CMTU.
GWU gave its full support to the FORUM application. However, CMTU objected, contending that FORUM has brought about more fragmentation within the Maltese trade union movement. According to CMTU, FORUM’s admittance to the mainstream of industrial relations would create further division, rather than unifying the trade unions.
The FORUM application had been on the agenda at two previous ETUC meetings – one held in December 2010 and the other in March 2011. On both occasions, CMTU blocked the application and as a result the final decision was postponed until the meeting scheduled to be held on 28 April 2011.
Following the ETUC meeting in March 2011, CMTU issued a plan of action in which GWU was invited to join forces to formulate a Memorandum of Understanding that would include a number of rules to strengthen unity among trade unions. GWU expressed serious doubts about the genuineness of this offer, coming immediately after CMTU had opposed FORUM’s application to join ETUC at its meeting in Brussels.
Besides, GWU felt that if it were to accept the CMTU offer it would betray FORUM, which was not included in this invitation. On its part, FORUM issued a press release in which it stated that CMTU was not acting on the principles of trade union solidarity.
In order to defuse this hostility, a mediator was appointed to try to iron out the differences prior to the ETUC meeting in Brussels on 28 April, during which a final decision about this matter was due to be taken. This intermediary role, together with the persuasion and lobbying of John Monks, seems to have prevailed. At the ETUC meeting in April 2011, CMTU withdrew its objections and FORUM’s application was accepted unanimously by the Executive Council.
The three Maltese union organisations then agreed to continue to seek amicable solutions to their differences. In fact, on 29 April, the day after the meeting in Brussels, representatives of the three unions held a meeting in the presence of Professor Edward Zammit, an industrial relations expert at the University of Malta, acting as mediator. In collaboration with John Monks, he had previously made several attempts to reconcile the Maltese trade unions. The tone of this meeting was placatory and conciliatory.
These discussions have not yet produced a road map towards total reconciliation. But if the emergence of FORUM on the Maltese industrial relations scenario is acknowledged as a sign of a higher degree of plurality characteristic of a modern society, then a more collaborative spirit, which so far has been missing, might prevail between the Maltese trade unions. By becoming an ETUC affiliate, FORUM has strengthened its credentials for membership of MCESD.
Saviour Rizzo, Centre for Labour Studies