There was a time when the General Workers’ Union held protests in the streets when it believed that the government was taking measures that would have led to changes to the conditions of work of Air Malta employees, or some dismissals.

There were occasions when there was unrest in the streets too, as the union was in the forefront in safeguarding the interests of its members, as it considered that the government’s action was to their detriment.

Well and good. Unions are there to assist their members and, if they feel that they are being threatened in some way, unions have every right to speak up on their behalf. Whether the action taken is a strike or a mass protest is debatable according to the circumstances of the day, but unions started to exist with one thing in mind – the workers have to be defended.

What we did not say in the opening two paragraphs was that what the General Workers Union did in defence of Air Malta workers happened under a Nationalist government. The issues, at the time, were deemed important enough by the union for it to take drastic action.

But they were nothing in comparison to the fact that now Air Malta will be shedding half its workforce in a bid to survive. It means that more than 400 workers will no longer be employed by the national carrier. Of consolation is that it has been said they will be absorbed in other government entities and agencies, at the taxpayers’ expense, in spite of calls by both the Chamber of Commerce and the Malta Employers Association for them to be seconded to the private industry.

This time, the GWU did not order a strike action, or tell Air Malta employees to protest in the streets. This time, it accepted the situation as a fait accompli.

We are sure that the situation would have been much different if Air Malta had decided to terminate the employment of half of its workforce with a Nationalist government in office. We would have seen a more vocal GWU on the matter, if the PN was in government. We would have also probably seen protests in the street too. There would have been days of instability.

But, with Labour in government, the GWU is docile, much more open to accept any decisions taken, even those that mean that 400 people will have an overnight change of job.

It is no surprise that the GWU acts in this way. For many years, the GWU formed part of the Labour set-up and even had a seat at the Cabinet table. The union was statutorily linked with the PL between 1978 and 1992 and, although that marriage was dissolved, they are still hand in hand, with the GWU unable to distance itself completely from the PL.

Such a situation, of course, continues to dent the credibility of the GWU.

A union should base its decisions on what is happening, and not which party is in government.