The unions discussing the renewal of the collective agreement for public officers last Monday issued a joint statement saying they were taking a firm stand against some government proposals.

The General Workers Union, the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, the Malta Union of Teachers, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses, the Medical Association of Malta and the Malta Union of Professional Psychologists said they were all prepared to order industrial action if the government does not backtrack from its original position.

The government is proposing a wage freeze that would exclude cost of living increases over the next three years, the removal of pre-retirement leave and a reduction in the payment of overtime. On the other hand, the government and the unions have agreed to have the new collective agreement signed for three years, rather than the original five, to strengthen working conditions relating to family needs and not to eliminate summer half-days.

Seen like this, the matter is rather complicated. The government seems to want a compromise in between controlling its expenditure and not wanting to nibble at workers’ conditions. The fact that it has accepted not to eliminate half-days in spite of the pressure there is from the private sector to bring the public service in line with modern exigencies is a clear indication that the government wants to leave matters as they are, fearing that this matter would have been too big a bone of contention at this point in time.

The Malta Independent has already expressed itself on the issue. The removal of summer half-days in the public service would be an essential move in restructuring a sector that cannot continue working half-days in summer if efficiency is to improve. As the country strives to improve its competitiveness, the public service must contribute towards the attainment of this goal.

So, it is believed that the government was wrong in giving up the matter so easily. It was perhaps afraid that, considering the issue of public holidays on weekends that emerged after the budget, it did not want to rock the boat any further when it comes to working hours.

The unions, while accepting the government’s decision on this matter with open arms, are still not happy. They want more. The government is being pushed into

controlling its expenditure but the unions want the workers to be exempted from cost-cutting exercises.

The unions’ role is to protect the interests of the workers. But these interests have to be protected in a bigger scenario, that is the well-being of the country as a whole. If wage increases to government workers will put the country in a worse situation than it is now, then they should understand that it is better to give up something now so as to reap benefits in the future.

After all, the government has already accepted, as explained earlier, not to remove summer half-days – something that will not help the country’s competitiveness – so as not to irritate the unions more than it has done of late. In a way, the government has already offered its part of the compromise.

We are not saying that the unions should give in to any proposal made. Far from it. But the unions must learn to be more reasonable in their demands and aim for better solutions in the interests of all.

Of course, nobody is happy to have his or her wage frozen for three years and the unions are fulfilling their role in trying to work towards a better solution for their

members.

But, in three years’ time, thanks to sacrifices made today, the country could be in a better situation and, also thanks to the benefits reaped from European Union membership, the unions could get an even better deal for the workers than they are asking for now.