Labour leader Alfred Sant, who was so adamant not to allow Dom Mintoff dictate his government policy in the short time he was in government, with the consequences we all know, now finds himself flirting with Tony Zarb, in his ruefully mistaken belief that Zarb is useful to him to topple the Gonzi government.
He is landing himself in the same mess that another Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, found himself in. Before Mrs Thatcher, the unions had the power to bring the country to its knees, and often did.
Mr Wilson was reduced to inviting the unions to Downing Street, for beer and sandwiches, while forlornly pleading with them for moderation in their demands.
They never listened, year after year their demand for higher wages went on relentlessly. Workers cheered their unions for obtaining for them a fatter wage packet. It was a veritable fool’s paradise. Of course the result was obvious and predictable.
Factory after factory closed down because they simply became uncompetitive. It was cheaper to buy coal from Poland, than using the abundant open cast coal that was there for the taking in the Vale of Rutland.
As in Malta, textiles became the first casualty of the unions’ irresponsible and short-sighted madcap behaviour.
This was followed by the machine tool industry collapse, and the closure of all the motor cycle and motor car industries, on which British industrial reputation and wealth was based.
We have a parallel situation developing in Malta. While Lloyds Shoes are giving notice that they can no longer operate profitably from Malta, the General Workers’ Union brags and flaunts its power of bringing industrial chaos by bringing workers out on the streets of Valletta, because the Prime Minister is trying to stop the rot by regaining some competitiveness.
British economic recovery was brought about by the steely character of Mrs Thatcher, who never pandered to the unions. She introduced laws to bring the unions under control, never once seeking popularity, except that she understood that in time people will realise that the slide into bankruptcy had to be halted.
She had to take extremely hard and agonising decisions in closing down coal pits that were exhausted, but nonetheless, were very often the mainstay of the local economy.
Mrs Thatcher served her country well. The triple alliance of coal, power and transport unions could no longer conspire to hold the country to ransom, as soon as winters began to set in. Sympathy strikes were outlawed along many other practices which the unions wrenched out of weak governments over the years.
It is to be noted that the Labour government of Tony Blair retained all the structures and controls that Mrs Thatcher imposed on the unions.
Can Dr Gonzi demonstrate that he is equal to the enormous task that needs to be done, in curtailing the unions’ propensity?
Dr Sant will do well to remember that he will have to reap the whirlwind of the wind of unrest he is sowing now. Can he prove that he can control the unions any better than Lawrence Gonzi?
We have to become more competitive if we are going to survive, we cannot survive unless we become more productive by working harder, accepting that there is a limit to our expectations. The alternative is too grim to contemplate.
Victor Spiteri
Attard