Getting re-elected, razzmatazz and all, was the easiest bit. It is getting down to what needs to be done that is the hardest challenge for the General Workers’ Union leaders, especially Tony Zarb.

To analyse the results of yesterday’s battle in their proper context, it is clear that in the union the incumbent was always fighting from a position of strength. The vanquished side, which saw what was coming, claimed that the stranglehold over the union media was the main factor ensuring the re-election of the incumbents. That may have been true, but it definitely was not the main factor behind the re-election of Mr Zarb and his colleagues.

It is indisputable that Mr Zarb encapsulates the general feeling among union members and officials, both as regards the general outlook in the country, their position as regards the economic principles and practice of this government and their alternative proposals for the country at large.

There is also a symbiosis between the outlook as represented by Mr Zarb and the main areas of the union membership – that is mostly at the dockyard and in the government’s mammoth corporations – a result of the economic policies of the 1970s now being fast bypassed by developments, thus fearful, suspicious and defensive.

It is equally indisputable that Manwel Micallef and his allies made huge strategic mistakes in their campaign and which has now cost them so much. An able general would strengthen his weaker side and rely on his stronger side: instead this group, rendered weak in support of the perception it was less than loyal to the union, chose to reinforce this perception (which may have not been so valid after all) through the spate of leaks and antagonism in some media. This rendered the group totally unacceptable to the union’s rank and file.

Deep down, too, was the perception, ably fomented by those around Mr Zarb, that Mr Micallef was less able to tackle the government than Mr Zarb. This perception was built not around such issues as Sea Malta or Maltacom but around what really happened at PBS. It is a fair comment to say now that Mr Micallef and his allies did nothing to counteract this perception.

But, now that the excitement is over, Mr Zarb would do well to heed Mr Micallef’s basic thrust: that the union must renew itself in preparation for the hard times ahead.

It was stated over the weekend that the union’s membership, whatever it may say officially, is on the decrease. Certainly, the union does not seem to be expanding into new areas. It is also true that the modern trend in jobs, with part-time and services, taking over from huge manufacturing concerns, bode ill to unions anywhere.

Another concern expressed over the past days has also focused on the union’s finances. Mr Zarb and the union leaders did not relish (that’s an understatement) what appeared in the media in this regard over the weekend, but the truth must be faced. Like any organisation that is in business and that has been so for many years, the union’s holdings show a variety of enterprises (some of which seem in today’s light, somewhat distant from the union’s core business) which are doing well, some doing badly, and most in general need a complete restructuring.

Mr Zarb and his allies would do well to take a leaf from the books of a government that is restructuring, successfully one should say, most of the assets under its control, and from what is modern business practice, and, secure now in their post, undertake a complete restructuring of the union’s holdings instead of having someone else doing it for them with far more pain some more years down the line. Certainly, now that the union’s best golden goose – cargo handling – is going the way of all monopolies, this is now very urgent.

Mainly, however, it is another Manwel Micallef contention that must be given priority: the training of new union leaders, promoting a new generation to tackle the issues of the coming years. The union has been less than successful in this regard: no one can forget the blood-shedding that took place prior to the EU referendum when the union lost many of its bright new hopes. It simply has to start from scratch but this time it has the opportunity to get EU funds to train promising leaders and officials. The union, in a way, is already doing so through its extensive and unpublicised training courses but it must do more, far more, than it is doing now.