The resignation of nine officials from the public sector section of the General Workers’ Union last Wednesday came as no surprise.
Just days after the union’s national conference passed a motion to dismiss secretary Josephine Attard Sultana and president Francis Buttigieg, nine of the remaining 12 officials on the sector’s executive committee handed in their resignation.
They did so in solidarity with the two dismissed officials, and their action has continued to expose the troubles the largest trade union in Malta is facing at this point in time – a very difficult period for the union’s administration.
No doubt, this resignation en masse sheds more light on the different factions that exist within the same union. The militant section of the union and the moderate part have always been at loggerheads, but over the past months, this division has come out more in the open.
Union secretary general Tony Zarb defends the kind of militancy that the union’s central administration pursues, saying that all the union is doing is safeguarding the interests of the workers and the conditions of work that have been obtained over the years.
But on the other hand, it seems that officials who are considered to be moderate no longer have a place in the union structure. Other officials in other top positions in the union – similar to those held by Ms Attard Sultana and Mr Buttigieg – now find themselves in difficulty.
The action taken by the union central administration last week indicates that it is trying to control what is perceived, from the outside, as a shift to more moderation as advocated by some top officials.
Observers say that the way the union ousted Ms Attard Sultana and Mr Buttigieg was a clear example to others to stay within established parameters or else risk being removed.
The union’s central administration has so far managed to retain its strength and power over the moderate faction within the union, but even the vote taken in the motion passed by the union last week shows that there is a growing belief that the union should start taking a more moderate stand.
For how long the militant faction of the union will resist such a movement remains to be seen, but the removal of moderate senior officials from within its ranks gives more basis to the argument that the union wants to curtail this shift.
This could, of course, backfire.
First of all, history has shown that certain actions and decisions that were taken by the union during disputes, particularly with the current administration, have not been well-received. For example, one can mention the union’s decision to hold a public demonstration for workers on the eve of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting held last November.
Secondly, the loss of officials who have carried out sterling work for the union for many years, such as Ms Attard Sultana and Mr Buttigieg, will no doubt weaken the union’s structure.
Thirdly, the resignation of other officials, as well as that of members who, according to Ms Attard Sultana, were resigning from the union because they were not happy with the way the union was being administered, could also have a negative effect on the union as a whole.
Fourthly, the union must understand that it needs moderate people within its fold to create the balance warranted in a trade union. A “one-sided” organisation cannot function properly as, in this case, there would be no-one to hold back.
All in all, the so-called militant faction of the union might feel stronger, now that two moderate officials have been removed from their post. But it may not be as clear-cut as they would like to imagine.