In the end, the unions did what Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi suggested they should do two months ago.

Last Friday, 11 unions, which include the General Workers’ Union, the Malta Union of Nurses and Midwives and the Malta Union of Teachers, wrote to the Malta Resources Authority to request clarification on the issues pertaining to the water and electricity tariffs.

In their letter, they said they want to know more details on the process that led to the recent revision of the energy rates. They requested the authority to supply a full chronological account, including instances when the MRA was directly involved, and a copy of the correspondence and relative reports, including one on the social impact of such tariffs, if this had been commissioned and carried out.

The request for a meeting with the MRA was first suggested in late November, soon after the Office of the Prime Minister published details of an agreement that had been reached with the unions on the revision of the energy rates.

The publication of these details had led to a division among the unions – with the second largest union, the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, and the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions accepting the agreement, which was however contested by 11 other unions.

Since then, these 11 unions have been requesting a meeting with the Prime Minister to clarify the situation. Dr Gonzi has consistently referred them to the MRA for such clarification – in November, when the details were first announced; just before Christmas, when the unions again requested a meeting; and early in January, when the 11 unions said that they were planning to take action unless the Prime Minister accepted their request for a meeting “within a week”.

As things have turned out, the unions did not get what they wanted (the meeting with the PM) and have had to accept his suggestion, that of seeking a clarification with the MRA. The unions have also issued a rather tame directive – the “action” they said they would take unless the PM met them was simply to tell the people to pay their water and electricity bills as late as possible within the 45-day window that Enemalta Corporation and the Water Services Corporation demand. No industrial action (after all, there is no industrial dispute), no civic disobedience campaign; simply “pay your bills as late as possible”.

All these factors have put the government in a position of strength. Ultimately, the unions have had to accept the Prime Minister’s suggestion and seek assistance from the MRA. In so doing, they have accepted that it is useless banging on the PM’s door.

But, having finally realised this, they have wasted two months. If they had sought remedy at the MRA in November, the first time that they were told to do so, they would have clarified all matters by now, and perhaps they would have been in a better position to understand the line of reasoning behind the government’s decision to raise tariffs. Perhaps they would also have taken a stronger stand against the same tariffs, rather than the meek approach they announced in their press conference on the footsteps leading up to the PM’s office.

Naturally, the fact that the issue has divided the unions does reduce the force with which the 11 entities who have not yet come to terms with the new tariffs can affect public perception. And the government is in a stronger position because of this too.

By managing to bring the UHM and CMTU on its side, the government has weakened the trade union movement which had marched together in Valletta on 14 November.

One awaits what the 11 unions’ next move will be, after the MRA “clarifies” matters. The hurricane they promised has so far turned out to be a breeze.