Nothing perhaps better illustrates the non-seriousness of the demonstration today than Tony Zarb’s choice of words last Friday:

“The government has again sided with the employers. Workers who are always shouldering the burden should show their anger.”

Sided with the employers? Is this really a playground issue of taking sides?

It is in fact everyone who will be a little touched by this reduction in public holidays, and not just Tony Zarb’s image of the “worker”. Employers work too, you know Tony, housewives work, schoolchildren work! I imagine the employers too will take a day less of leave. I imagine schools that normally close will stay open so children are affected, too.

And, of course, women who stay at home, with no paid holidays ever, and who yet still manage to survive and outlive men (!) will have another day of housework, and a day less with all their family home.

But is this a real reason to demonstrate? The majority of countries in Europe, as The Malta Independent’s editorial pointed out last Friday, do not have a

system where additional leave is given if a public holiday falls at a weekend, as we do. We have a huge number of holidays. Apart from 24 days leave, there are 14 national and public holidays, and most, except housewives and some working people, also have two days off out of every seven! It’s hardly exploitation of the worker, is it?

And, of course, there is another reason why we all should not take this demonstration seriously. The General Workers Union would simply not be demonstrating if this had been proposed by a Labour government. They never demonstrated when Labour were there, did they?

To use Tony Zarb’s playground language, it is the GWU that always sides with the Labour Party and not at all true that the government always sides with the employers. Doesn’t he know what employers really want? Less workers in the public sector. Freezing of public sector wages, and a whole raft of other measures which would, of course, be far more harmful to workers, particularly government workers. The government is trying to go softly softly, and they get accused of being in cahoots with the employers. It’s so ridiculous and oh so 1970s I can’t believe I’m hearing it!

Of course, if and when Labour are in government and say certain medicine is needed, the GWU will sit there meekly and agree. When Labour put up electricity rates in a way that partly cost them an election, the GWU didn’t even squeak. And that’s what gets

people fed up.

Why this unnecessary show of force? To boost membership? To show how macho the unions are? It’s so tiring, too, and it does nothing to solve problems.

I still think the hike in the price of kerosene, for example, was far more anti-social than this, and needs to be remedied. But it’s difficult to bring in all the old ladies who are suffering in their now even colder homes, or all the housewives or single parent mums who are among Malta’s poorest people and who have no union to represent them! It’s so petty to complain about this. It’s so

hilarious to hear them say they are going to complain to Europe about it.

I mean, this really is why we wanted to be in the European Union and why we wanted recourse to their justice. With all the injustices under our noses, and there are many, both in government and in the private sector service, we’re going to complain to Europe, or at least the GWU is, about losing four public holidays one year and two the next, I believe.

And of course the big surprise is that the Labour Party said they agree with this GWU demonstration. Did Labour also say they would give the workers back this privilege? I don’t think I’ve heard Alfred say it yet? Has Tony asked Alfred to say this and commit himself to what he will do. Of course not. It’s just Nationalist measures bad, Labour measures good in the world of Malta’s largest union.

Our problems are very grown up ones. Obviously, getting everyone to sit round a table and make their voices heard is not leading to consensus politics at all. And that’s a pity for this whole island. We all need to stop playing at demonstrations and start to role play as grown ups. It’s surely not beyond a people who rallied together to collect so much for the tsunami victims. Can only a crisis make us see sense and come together? It seems so.