The development and current situation of trade unions

Debono, Manwel

Pregled

Članek

The development and current situation of trade unions

Objavljeno: 26 April 2004

The Maltese system of industrial relations is based on the British model. It has traditionally been supported by British consultants and in the beginning trade unions often took the form of local branches of British unions. The current cultural fabric of industrial relations has also been greatly affected by the rise of two opposing movements in the late 1970s. The first movement was born out of the ideology that the General Workers’ Union (GWU [1]) and the Malta Labour Party (MLP [2]) together formed the 'Malta workers’ movement'. When the MLP has been out of government, this has led to a largely confrontational approach to Nationalist Party governments. On the other hand, a second movement emerged, largely as a reaction to the first one. The Union of United Workers (Union Haddiema Maghqudin, UHM [3]) and other smaller unions under the umbrella of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU) emphasised the importance of being free from political links and tended to be less confrontational in their approach with the state and private employers.[1] http://www.gwu.org.mt/[2] http://www.mlp.org.mt/[3] http://www.uhm.org.mt/

Trade union membership in Malta has grown considerably in the past 20 years and density stands at over 62%. Of around 86,000 union members, nearly three-quarters are men. The largest unions are the General Workers’ Union (GWU) and the Union of United Workers (UHM), with the latter being a member of the country's only union confederation, the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU). This article outlines the development of unions and examines the situation in 2004, looking at the main unions and their activity, membership and density, as well as industrial action.

The Maltese system of industrial relations is based on the British model. It has traditionally been supported by British consultants and in the beginning trade unions often took the form of local branches of British unions. The current cultural fabric of industrial relations has also been greatly affected by the rise of two opposing movements in the late 1970s. The first movement was born out of the ideology that the General Workers’ Union (GWU) and the Malta Labour Party (MLP) together formed the 'Malta workers’ movement'. When the MLP has been out of government, this has led to a largely confrontational approach to Nationalist Party governments. On the other hand, a second movement emerged, largely as a reaction to the first one. The Union of United Workers (Union Haddiema Maghqudin, UHM) and other smaller unions under the umbrella of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU) emphasised the importance of being free from political links and tended to be less confrontational in their approach with the state and private employers.

Trade unions in Malta are governed by the Employment and Industrial Relations Act 2002. The Act specifies that the rules of all trade unions shall contain a number of provisions meant to increase the professionalism and transparency of the organisations’ operations. The Act provides for the post of Registrar of Trade Unions, who acts as the official keeper of information about all trade unions. Another important aspect of the law deals with the immunity of trade unions to actions in tort. The Act also stipulates restrictions relating to joining unions and the right to strike.

Trends over the past 20 years

General trade union membership

According to the Registrar of Trade Unions, in June 2003 there were a total of 86,061 trade union members, representing 62.5% of the total number of gainfully occupied people in Malta - see table 1 below. The actual union density increases if one excludes the self-employed and the other workers who are legally precluded from unionisation. such as the police and the armed forces, although it diminishes if one omits the pensioners (over 8,200 in 2003) who are members of the largest unions.

Trade union membership in Malta has been growing steadily since the Second World War. Focusing on the past 20 years, there has been a steady increase in both the numbers of unionised workers and the overall density of unionisation. Since 1983, there has been an increase of 77% in membership, corresponding to an increase of 37% in density.

However, during 2002 and 2003, a marginal decline in trade union membership has been registered for the first time since the Registrar of Trade Unions first published trade union data in 1976. This has been attributed to stagnant employment creation and restructuring exercises (MT0403101N). The bulk of trade union decline is being registered in the private manufacturing sector, which is undergoing workforce reductions, and in privatised or restructured public entities.

**Table 1. Unionisation trends, 1983-2003**
Year	Number of unions	Number of members	Full-time gainfully occupied people (June)	Union density (number of members divided by gainfully occupied) in %
2003	33	86,061	137,758	62.5
2002	35	86,501	137,636	62.8
2001	33	87,332	138,552	63.0
2000	38	86,107	136,506	63.1
1999	36	84,132	134,786	62.4
1998	34	81,983	133,907	61.2
1997	37	80,972	133,600	60.6
1996	38	79,217	133,297	59.4
1995	39	78,126	131,505	59.4
1994	37	76,795	127,425	60.3
1993	35	73,970	126,356	58.5
1992	30	71,471	125,466	57.0
1991	30	70,704	123,660	57.2
1990	25	69,220	121,592	56.9
1989	24	67,301	120,516	55.8
1988	23	63,413	119,299	53.2
1987	21	60,872	116,999	52.0
1986	21	53,008	109,439	48.4
1985	14	52,297	106,240	49.2
1984	14	46,434	106,925	43.4
1983	14	48,609	106,870	45.5

Sources: Registrar of Trade Unions; National Statistics Office.

Representation in public and private sectors

Union representation in the public sector is very strong. Practically all full-time state employees are covered by collective agreements, with a unionisation rate of around 90% in the public and parastatal sectors.

However, unionisation is considerably lower in the private sector. A study carried out in 1995 found that around one-third of full-time employees working in the Maltese private sector were covered by collective agreements. The primary sector (comprising agriculture, fisheries, stone quarrying and oil drilling) is virtually trade union-free. On the other hand, almost half of the full-time employees in the secondary sector (comprising manufacturing and construction) are covered by collective agreements. Finally, the tertiary (services) sector has a low trade union presence, with about a fifth of full-time employees benefiting from collective agreements.

Unionisation in the primary and tertiary sector is particularly limited by the scale of operation. Most of the organisations in these sectors are small family-owned and run enterprises, which tend to inhibits employees from joining unions.

Industrial action

Malta tends to have an atmosphere of relative industrial action stability - see table 2 below. While the number of strikes has fluctuated in recent years, the number of strike days has been following an overall downward trend. The worst industrial conflicts in recent years have occurred in the public sector over conditions of work. Such conflicts are usually more intense than those in the private sector for reasons ranging from a general feeling of insulation from market pressures (with unions thus phrasing demands in terms of social justice rather than competitiveness) to a tendency of 'aggravation' due to intermingling with political and national issues. On the other hand, industrial conflicts in the private sector are rarer and tend to be resolved more quickly. Negotiations in the private sector are more 'moderate', as unions perceive that loss of international competitiveness tends to result in company closures and job losses. Government policy is to solve industrial disputes as quickly as possible. This normally happens through the intervention of the director of the Department of Industrial and Employment Relations ([DIER](http://www.msp.gov.mt/services/subpages/content.asp?id=37&heading=Business and Industry - Departments)).

**Table 2. Strikes and lost working days, 1983-2001**
Year	No of strikes	Of which in private sector	Working days lost	Of which in private sector
2001	13	1	2,792	11
2000	12	5	4,764	318
1999	15	4	1,261	159
1998	8	4	1,828	1,343
1997	9	2	14,652	552
1996	8	3	16,015	642
1995	13	6	5,302	987
1994	10	5	2,830	253
1993	13	3	2,207	1,792
1992	5	2	99	44
1991	8	1	461	61
1990	25	7	4,485	3,546
1989	46	26	6,598	2,504
1988	7	2	281	41
1987	2	2	714	714
1986	7	7	10,034	10,034
1985	6	5	874	742
1984	17	6	64,123	2,560
1983	9	6	1,372	1,258

Source: Registrar of Trade Unions.

Number and size of unions

In 1983, there were 14 registered trade unions in Malta. Since then, the figure has more than doubled, with 33 registered unions in 2003. During the past 20 years, around 3.5 unions have either been added or cancelled from the Register of Trade Unions every year. This amounts to a yearly flux of 12% of the registered unions.

The Employment and Industrial Relations Act 2002 states that at least seven people are needed in order officially to register a union. The size of the existing unions varies from 16 to 47,653 members. Most of the existing unions are smaller ones - see table 3 below. While 11 have fewer than 50 members, another nine have between 51 and 100 members. The number of unions is inversely proportional to the number of union members. In fact, only five unions have over 1,000 members.

**Table 3. Number of unions by size, 2003**
Number of union members	Number of unions
Up to 50	11
51-100	9
101-500	7
500-1,000	1
1000 and over	5

Source: Registrar of Trade Unions.

The main players

As can be seen in table 4 below, the largest union is by far the General Workers’ Union (GWU) which has nearly double the number of members of the second largest union, the Union of United Workers (UHM). The next three unions are much smaller than the largest two.

A large majority of unionised workers are males (73%). This is in line with the female labour participation rate in Malta (between 32%-34%). However, the ratio of unionised employees is slightly lower for females than males. Among the large unions, the ratio of female members is highest in the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses (MUMN) and the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT).

**Table 4. Largest unions and proportion of women members**
Name of union	2003
Name of union	Members	Female members as % of total
General Workers’ Union	47,254	19
Union of United Workers	25,882	28
Malta Union of Teachers	5,839	66
Malta Union of Bank Employees	2,950	57
Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses	1,961	68
Others	2,175	40
Total	86,061	27

Source: Registrar of Trade Unions.

All the Maltese unions have common elements. They tend to be funded mainly by members’ subscription fees (though GWU also owns money-generating subsidiaries). These unions are organised in a democratic way, with regular elections being held to fill decision-making posts.

Below we provide a brief overview of the largest five unions, followed by an outline of the only trade union confederation in Malta.

General Workers' Union

The GWU is by far the largest trade union in Malta. It boasts a wide representation reaching 'all sectors' of the Maltese economy and is especially strong in the public sector and in state-owned or -controlled enterprises and corporations.

The GWU was founded in 1943 in the Naval Dockyard (subsequently named the Malta Drydocks) as a reaction to British colonial policies. A civilian clerk called Reginald Miller gathered a group of workers and succeeded in persuading them to set up a general union to protect their jobs and improve their working conditions, which at that time were poor. From its foundation, the GWU embarked on a campaign for new legislation relating to workers' rights, trade union freedom and the resolution of conflicts. The greatest achievement for the GWU in the industrial relations field was the enactment of the Industrial Relations Act of 1976. This act was a landmark for trade unionism in Malta, as it not only consolidated previous legislation but also made new provisions regulating worker-employer relations.

One of the most controversial actions of the GWU was its socio-political pact with the Malta Labour Party in 1978, when the two organisations officially entrenched in their constitution a statutory fusion. This fusion was cancelled in 1992.

The GWU currently employs over 50 staff (excluding those working in its subsidiaries) and comprises 10 sections, eight of which are involved in collective bargaining. These are the:

chemical, energy and printing section;
metal and construction section;
hospitality and foods section;
maritime and aviation section;
services and media section;
public services section;
technology, electronics and communications section; and
manufacturing and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) section.

The youth section and the pensioners section are not 'trade secretariats' and therefore do not perform any collective bargaining.

At international level, the GWU is affiliated to various networks of other unions and international confederations, including: the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), of which the GWU is one of the founder members; the Commonwealth Trade Union Council (CTUC); and the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The GWU represents Maltese workers at the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

Union of United Workers

UHM was founded in 1966, under the name of the Malta Government Clerical Union (MGCU), with membership restricted to clerical employees in the public service. Its services to members and various gains and achievements in improving the conditions of work of clerical employees soon made the MGCU very popular among employees in the public service. In 1973 it changed its name to the Malta Government Employees Union (MGEU) and membership was opened to all categories of workers in the public service, parastatal bodies and public corporations. In 1977, there was a wave of industrial unrest due to several changes in the conditions of work of employees in the public sector. The MGEU launched a protest campaign and directed workers to resort to partial industrial action that resulted in punitive measures by the government. A need to strengthen the free trade union movement was strongly felt. The MGEU was thus renamed the Union of United Workers (Union Haddiema Maghqudin, UHM) which, besides widening the aims of the union, also opened its doors to all workers irrespective of class, sector or grade. The UHM was officially registered in 1978. Many smaller unions merged with the UHM and a large number of workers, from all sectors, joined its ranks. Within a very short time the union's membership shot up considerably, making it Malta’s second largest union.

The UHM employs 25 staff and comprises the following seven sections:

health and services section;
hotels, restaurants, food and beverages section;
manufacture and allied services section;
parastatal section;
departmental section;
general services section; and
pensioners section

The UHM is strongly represented in the public sector and in some state-owned or -controlled enterprises or corporations and fairly strongly in private companies, large business firms and medium-sized business.

Internationally, the UHM is affiliated to the International Federation of Public Service Employees (INFEDOP), and the European Federation of Public Service Employees (EUROFEDOP).

Malta Union of Teachers

Founded in 1919, the MUT is the only trade union in Malta that has survived since the pre-Second World War. The MUT originated from developments following riots on 7 June 1919. In an effort to calm the situation, the government reviewed the salaries of all categories of government employees except teachers. This resulted in protests by teachers, who gathered together and founded the MUT with just over 600 members. Today it represents all grades of teachers in the public and private sectors, from kindergarten to university, and claims a density of over 90% in all teaching grades in Malta. Over the years, the MUT has developed its dual role of trade union and professional educational organisation.

Over the years, the MUT has successfully negotiated several agreements on salaries and conditions of work. However, its greatest achievement was its role in the enactment of the Education Act 1988, whereby teaching was given official recognition as a profession.

Malta Union of Bank Employees

The MUBE was formerly known as the Movement of United Bank Employees and before that as the Malta Union of Bankers. It was registered at the Office of the Registrar of Trade Unions in 1972 following a promotion exercise in one of the leading banks which left many non-manual employees dissatisfied. After 1987, the MUBE was reorganised and its activities extended. It is now open to all managerial, supervisory, clerical and industrial grades (including messengers, janitors and technicians) .The MUBE currently has members in the main six banks in Malta and claims to represent over 90% of all clerical and managerial grades in the local banks. Among its accomplishments, the MUBE was the first union to obtain a right to maternity leave for its members.

Internationally, the MUBE is affiliated to Union Network International (UNI) and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL).

Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses

The MUMN originated from the Malta Union of Midwives (MUM), which was set up in 1990. As time went by, the MUM’s activity diminished, and due to the limited number of midwives in Malta its financial difficulties grew. However, the number of nurses was increasing and, instead of setting up a separate union, in 1996 they joined MUM, which was renamed the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses. Within a year, MUMN gained sole representation rights for nurses working in Malta, MUM having earlier gained this status for midwives. Today, the MUMN is the fifth largest union in Malta and claims to represent around 94.7% of nurses and 96% of midwives.

MUMN is affiliated to various international and European organisations: Public Services International (PSI); the International Council of Nurses (ICN); the Commonwealth Nurses Federation (CNF); the European Forum for Nurses and Midwives in the World Health Organisation; and the Standing Committee of Nurses of the European Union (PCN).

Confederation of Malta Trade Unions

Three of the large Maltese unions (UHM, MUT and MUBE), together with seven other smaller unions form part of the umbrella organisation CMTU. The confederation was founded in 1959 with the aim of coordinating and rationalising Malta’s trade union activities. The objectives of the confederation are to promote the interests of its affiliates and to further the ideals of a democratic trade union movement, as well as to improve generally the economic and social conditions of workers. The CMTU grew considerably during the statutory fusion between the GWU and MLP (see above), as many workers wished to be represented by a free trade union. While the CMTU professes no political allegiance, the official policies of its members often converge with those of the Nationalist Party.

Internationally, the CMTU is affiliated to the World Confederation of Labour (WCL), the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), and the Commonwealth Trade Union Council (CTUC).

The GWU, UHM, and CMTU have representatives on the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD), Malta’s highest forum of tripartite concertation.

Commentary

In spite of a marginal decrease in membership, trade unions have largely managed to maintain their bargaining power. The purchasing power of their members' pay has remained intact. The creation of the MCESD strengthened the consultative structures in which trade unions are involved by providing a legal status for tripartite concertation in Malta. The MCESD offers the opportunity for the main unions, together with employers' organisations and the government, to discuss the most salient economic and social issues faced by the country. For example, the consultation prior to the 2004 state budget was the most comprehensive of its kind. Malta’s accession to the European Union is causing some instability in the economic market. Trade unions need to maintain their relevance by gearing themselves to the changing circumstances and offering viable solutions to new problems in specific employment sectors. The main unions (spearheaded by the GWU and the UHM) are focusing their energies on such emerging issues. Though they may be adopting different terminologies and promoting different strategies, they are calling for greater unity among all social actors in order to maintain the viability of the Maltese economy and ensure that the social dimension is still high on the agenda of policy-makers. (Manwel Debono, Malta Workers' Participation Development Centre)

References: Evolving industrial relations in Malta, G Baldacchino, S Rizzo and E Zammit, Malta: Agenda in collaboration with Workers’ Participation Development Centre, 2003; and Conflict resolution mechanisms in Malta, E Zammit, paper presented at workshop on 'Social dialogue and conflict resolution mechanisms: conciliation, mediation, arbitration in Estonia, Hungary, Malta, Poland and Slovenia', held in Prague, 29-31 October 2003.

Eurofound priporoča, da to publikacijo navedete na naslednji način.

Eurofound (2004), The development and current situation of trade unions, article.