The demonstration which took place on Friday was surely historical. Having 20 trade unions joining for one cause is a great sign of historical maturity for Maltese trade unionism.

Now that trade unions are on the tide of unity, they should grab the opportunity to form a united front. This will be beneficial for all the working categories in Malta.

Stronger will be the voice of trade unions within the respective forums, be they on a national or on a European level. Their concerns will start to be taken more seriously by the government, and those who hold the means of capital production, namely the FOI and the Chamber of Commerce (now united as “The Chamber”).

They will start finding it harder to impose tough measures, weakening the workers’ quality of life. Having trade unionism represented by one confederation will mean that rightist workers will have their struggles unified with those of the leftists, and vice versa. This will be tantamount to a great leap towards a new era of trade unionism in Malta, where bipartite polarity will not affect the unity of workers anymore.

The ruling elite will surely lessen its arrogance in front of a united trade unionist front.

Christopher Cutajar

for Zminijietna – Voice of the Left