The heat is on at the General Workers’ Union.

Let’s not talk about the summer months or the days when one wakes up in the morning and dreads going out because it’s going to be another hot day. These days should have seen most of us getting some kind of break. The luckier ones may have taken a few days off from work and spent them leisurely at some summer residence or idling time away at home. Others, including ministers and parliamentary secretaries, have had to continue administering matters even if from home.

One mention goes to the police and army personnel who seem to find no time for relaxation and vacation leave, since the summer months seem to demand extra duties, a greater concentration in addressing recurring problems, attendances at village festivities and the addressing of the irregular immigration phenomenon.

However, 40 degrees Centigrade in the shade is now considered cool compared to the temperature in the corridors of the Workers Memorial Building, with some officials being dismissed and high-ranking officials being voted out from their position by the people at the top. The heat is on and the furnace is glowing red.

I repeat, at GWU headquarters, it seems that things are hot. And it seems that the woman at the centre of the whole issue was none other than Josephine Attard Sultana. The air-conditioners were out of order or perhaps they had been switched off because of the surcharge.

Anyway, since the “problem” seemed to emanate from Ms Attard Sultana’s desk, it seems only logical to Tony Zarb and his associates that she and Mr Francis Buttigieg be eliminated from their post. They had become expendable and it became imperative that they should be dispensed with as the union maintained its militant image. By hook or by crook, and in spite of a court decision against the union, they just had to go.

And this they did in style. After an executive meeting, in order to calm things down and carry out decisions in a most humane way, they seem to have been ordered out of the building within the hour. Even the police were called in to assure that this would be done democratically. I can commiserate with the Police Commissioner who had to have his officers move in to take out this “dangerous woman” out of the building. It seems that with the GWU administration, one is more dangerous if he or she acts the way Ms Attard Sultana and Mr Buttigieg did.

From what I know of Ms Attard Sultana, she is a moderate person, organised and able to take up any challenge put before her as a high-ranking official of the GWU. She is known to be moderate in her operations and prefers lengthy discussions around a table, which eventually gave the desired results, rather than bullying tactics which only lead to aggravation of the situations arising from time to time.

One hopes that she finds employment elsewhere, perhaps in the same sector of work. Who knows, Mr Zarb or Mr Mercieca could one fine day wake up to meet her across the table, she representing the interests of the other side, and they threatening to march into the streets, demonstrate in the square and continue to worsen a situation which should be addressed, discussed and solved around a table.

One final question. Are these recent dismissals to be added to the long list we have heard about at nauseam? Does she follow in the footsteps of Joe Attard Kingswell, Anglu Fenech, Dr George Abela and Manuel Micallef?

Let’s hope that tomorrow is another day and the sun will rise again.

Tony Abela is

parliamentary secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister