International Worker’s Day will be celebrated on Monday.
Traditionally, the day commemorates the historic achievements of the labour movement, the “victories” obtained by the working class in winning rights that today are taken for granted. It is an occasion for workers to acknowledge the hard work carried out by their unions and leaders in the past so that working conditions would be improved.
In many parts of the world this is not always the case and there are still places where workers are not respected, where they work in poor conditions, and where they are paid little for the strenuous jobs they do.
Luckily, great strides forward have been made in the working world in Malta. The establishment of trade unionism over the course of the 20th century has, in no small way, helped workers to earn rights that were previously a dream, and to have their conditions in the workplace enhanced.
Unions say there is still a lot more that needs to be done and that they are always on the alert to defend, and possibly improve upon, what has been achieved in the past. This is ultimately their role, and they are right to pursue the task given to them by their members – that of protecting their interests.
What unions sometimes fail to understand is that they should defend their members (and their families) but that this should not be at the expense of the national interest. There is a fine line between what is good for the workers and what is good for the country, and there are occasions when unions do not see the difference.
And it is this difference that will make or break a country. While, we repeat, unions are doing their job when they seek to defend the interests of their members, they should also see the overall picture and not concentrate on their particular sector. They should understand that tough decisions sometimes need to be taken because, at the end of the day, sacrifices made today will reap bigger benefits in the future.
Unions say that workers have made, and are still making great sacrifices, and they should not be the only ones to shoulder the burden. Granted. The last few years have not been easy for Malta, largely because the economy has not developed as much as one would have expected.
But lessons have been learnt from the mistakes that have been made, and corrections have been implemented, and are still being implemented, to give the country a brighter future. Again, critics say that these changes and reforms are taking place too slowly and that much more needs to be done to push the country forward, especially from an economic point of view.
Still, it must be said that the government has not been afraid to take tough decisions that have proved rather unpopular, but that were taken in what it believes is the national interest. The
country’s situation has improved, albeit slightly, when compared to a few years back, and it is now perhaps time to reap some of the benefits from the sacrifices that have been made.
As was stated by both former Finance Minister John Dalli and former General Workers’ Union deputy general secretary Manwel Micallef during a business breakfast last Thursday, if unions are to remain a relevant force in the new economy, they must change their mentality. They must accept that the country has shifted from an old to a new business plan, and they must change their attitude to industrial relations and how they operate in a globalised, knowledge-based economy.
Otherwise, they run the risk of losing their
status. Mr Micallef gave a clear warning on this matter. Union membership levels have fallen to below 50 per cent of the workforce, he said, attributing this to their failure to adapt to the new economy.
Coming from a former official of the biggest union in Malta, his words certainly carry a lot of weight.