In normal circumstances, the trade union movement attracts the attention of the general public when unions are engaged in disputes or resort to industrial action.  The Medical Association of Malta and the Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin are currently not making news for any of these, but for another important reason.   

The unions have submitted a joint request to the Public Accounts Committee to investigate the contracts signed between Government and Vitals Global Healthcare for the privatisation of the Gozo, St Luke’s, and Karen Grech hospitals.  The PAC did not reach an agreement on the unions’ request and thus the issue was referred to the Speaker of the House, Dr Anglu Farrugia, for direction, who in return ruled that it is up to the PAC to decide whether to accede to the request put forward by the MAM and UĦM.  

At the moment, the General Workers’ Union is also getting a special mention in the media, but for a totally different reason.  

Perhaps before delving into the issues of the MAM, the UĦM and the GWU, a bit of a preamble is required for those not well acquainted with the functions of trade unions.  Trade unions promote solidarity. Trade unions deal with individual grievances, enter into collective bargaining, and participate on the national level with recommendations particularly, but not exclusively, during meetings of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.   In addition to their daily hectic workload, trade unions initiate national campaigns with the aim to bring to the forefront issues which, in their opinion, deserve consideration.

The MAM and the UHM are seeking ways to protect their members and the general public by requesting the PAC to investigate the contracts between government and Vitals Global Healthcare that will see a considerable chunk of the national public health service pass to a bottom line driven, profit making company.  On the other hand, the GWU is taking advantage of vulnerable, unemployed workers, making a hefty financial profit in the process. 

In the recent past, the GWU was at the forefront in the fight against precarious employment.  The Partit Laburista took the cue and pledged to wrestle with service providers engaging workers on precarious conditions of work, a promise which as yet has not been honoured.   But to add insult to injury, it has now been revealed that the GWU and government have entered into a contract wherein 600 unemployed workers were transferred from Jobsplus to a foundation administered by the GWU.

With this contract, both the GWU and government have surrendered the right to combat precarious employment.  It seems that both organisations have lost their will to fight this fight. So much for empty promises!  Profits are necessary but trade unions, in this case the GWU, should not seek to make a profit from the miseries of those vulnerable.  As stated earlier, trade unions are founded on the principle of solidarity and there is none in the contract between Jobsplus and the GWU.    

Here, I bring in two gentlemen who, perhaps because of the public office they hold, remained silent in the face of a scheme that is exploiting unemployed workers.  Both gentlemen can enliven the national debate with their views about the transfer of the 600 long-term unemployed individuals, just like Archbishop Charles J. Scicluna did. 

The two gentlemen I am referring to are Mario Cutajar, formerly a senior GWU official and now the Principal Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister and John Bencini, the former MUT leader currently occupying the Chairmanship at the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development.  Both have worked tirelessly in the trade union movement and both had at some point, and rightly so, expressed their disgust at employers exploiting vulnerable workers.  I hope they have not abandoned the solidarity principle.

It is not the amount of profit which the General Workers’ Union is making which should be shamed; it is the principle adopted which should embarrass the GWU and government.  Jobsplus should not transfer its responsibility to a private company and, in the process, strike 600 unemployed off its records and squander public funds in the process.    

It is the responsibility of Jobsplus to administer a scheme that is aimed to assist unemployed workers enter into the labour market.  No private sector organisation should be allowed to take charge of unemployed workers, even if this is for a nominal fee let alone if for profit which runs into millions.   What kind of social justice is it when these workers are deployed to local councils and NGOs and paid the minimum wage when their counterparts are receiving a higher rate of pay?  

So much for the fight against precarious employment!   

 

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