The Nationalist media is having a field-day with what is happening within the General Workers’ Union. The party’s newspapers and its radio and television stations have over the past weeks regularly highlighted the internal problems that have hit the union, and which culminated last Tuesday when the public sector section secretary and president were removed from their post by the union’s national council.

Josephine Attard Sultana and Francis Buttigieg were voted off with a 29-13 ballot, just days after they had won a court battle against the same union. Late last week, the court upheld a request submitted by Ms Attard Sultana for an extraordinary general conference, called by the union to evaluate her position, to be stopped.

The conference was called off but the union instead held a meeting for delegates on Monday, and a day later convened its national council to vote – in favour – on the motion presented by the central administration. Ms Attard Sultana has told this newspaper that she is taking legal advice as to how to pursue the matter further.

For its part, the Labour Party media has given little importance to the event, relegating the news item to the end of its bulletins.

The implications here are obvious.

The GWU has severed its statutory ties with the MLP, but it is still perceived to be strongly linked to the Labour Party, a stand that is always given particular attention by the PN media. And, as such, anything brewing within the union, especially something so important as the removal of the top two officials of a union section, could throw bad light on “the other side” and deviate attention from the difficulties the Nationalist government is facing.

The matter, of course, does not stop here.

What the GWU did last Tuesday makes it evident that the union is passing through one of the most delicate phases in its history. It is clear, for example, that there is a growing force of discontent within, and this is not only related specifically to last Tuesday’s decision.

Late last year, the post for secretary general was contested for the first time, with incumbent Tony Zarb having had to face his deputy Manuel Micallef. Mr Zarb eventually won the election handsomely, with Mr Micallef losing his position, as the cracks in the union structure started to grow.

On Tuesday, the union’s central administration had it its way too, as a motion it presented for the removal of Ms Attard Sultana and Mr Buttigieg was passed. Yet, even here, the result of the voting shows that the union is somewhat divided. Thirteen were the votes against, with 29 in favour, and this makes it clear that there are two factions within the same union.

The so-called militant side is still the stronger part of the union – Mr Zarb’s win against Mr Micallef late last year and the decision taken on Tuesday is evidence of this. But the 13 votes against the central administration’s motion represent, relatively speaking, a big group too.

Is the union moving away towards a more moderate approach? Is the union afraid of this growing faction of officials who do not seem to be in line with the positions taken by the central administration?

So far, the union has managed to control the shift, but the way it reacted to Ms Attard Sultana’s position can be interpreted that the union’s top officials are concerned.

Time will tell what effect Tuesday’s decision will have on the union. Will the motion serve to block any other “initiatives” from other disgruntled officials who want to see changes in the way the union is run, or will it serve to make them more determined to come out into the open?