The deadline imposed by 11 unions to the government over the water and electricity tariffs expires today. The unions, in a press conference given on 2 January, gave Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi one week to hold a meeting to discuss the issue, and warned that action could be taken unless Dr Gonzi acceded to their request.
The government stood its ground, and has refused to meet up with the unions, which include the General Workers Union, the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses and the Malta Union of Teachers (MUT). It has insisted that an agreement has been reached on the revision of the energy tariffs, and that any particular queries should be addressed to the Malta Resources Authority (MRA).
On this matter, the government is backed by the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU) and the Union Haddiema Maghqudin. They are both saying that the tariffs, as detailed in a letter sent by Dr Gonzi to the unions on 24 November, were those agreed with in a meeting that was held two days earlier.
This issue has also in part led to the conflict between the CMTU and the MUT, with the latter’s membership in the confederation being suspended.
In the meantime, the new water and electricity bills have started to be sent to households, but the 11 unions have suggested that families take their time before paying their dues because the situation could change.
The unions were careful in their choice of wording on this particular factor. They did not tell the people not to pay up, which would have been tantamount to ordering a kind of civil disobedience; they simply asked them to postpone their payments as much as possible, hinting that there could yet be another twist in the tail.
Energy bills, issued jointly by Enemalta Corporation and the Water Services Corporation, give clients a maximum 45 days from the date of issue of the bill for payment to be made. These 11 unions firmly believe that there is still a chance that they will be forcing the government to review its position within this timeframe.
But, for the government, the issue is closed and it is continuously referring these unions to the MRA if they would like to clarify matters further. For their part, the unions are refusing to accept this, saying that since it is a social issue that requires a political discussion, rather than a technical one, then it should be the government which sits down with the unions to find a solution.
The ball is now once again in the unions’ court. With the deadline expiring today, the unions have to make up their mind on what action to take to continue putting pressure on the government. They promised they would do so unless Dr Gonzi agreed to meet them. The Prime Minister has turned them down, and so now the unions must make the next move.
Again, in the press conference they gave last week, the unions were vague as to what “action” they would be announcing today. Is it industrial action? Will they be ordering a partial strike or even a general strike? Or will they turn their suggestion to postpone the payment of bills into an order not to do so?
What the unions must understand is that, in the current volatile circumstances and with the economy passing through a difficult time because of the international situation, the last thing Malta needs is added instability. They have every right to try to protect workers and their families, but this is technically not an industrial dispute, and therefore they will carry a bigger responsibility for the action they could be ordering today – if they do carry out their threat.