Clyde Caruana said on Monday that not all workers will want to join a union and one cannot force them to unionise. 

One of the points in the Labour Party’s general election manifesto stipulates how the party is, in principle, in favour of making membership in a trade union mandatory and would seek to start discussions to that end.

Caruana was speaking at a Malta Chamber of Commerce event about human capital and education when he faced criticism for the PL’s proposal by those present, including Chamber President Marisa Xuereb.

Caruana explained that the proposal was born out of the fact that there are sectors where workers continued to be exploited, and that it is a fact that trade unions minimise worker exploitation and generally speaking through collective bargaining are able to provide working conditions.

He noted however that, on the flipside, mandatory unionisation could cause logistical issues for the unions themselves based on the number of workers that they would suddenly have to provide a service for.

The best tool for a worker to be able to fight any type of abuse, he said, is education and skills, particularly in today’s economy, as this can allow a worker to change workplaces if they feel that they are being abused of in their current place of work.

“There are going to be employers who look at this with scepticism, but I think that there will be a discussion within the MCESD to see the logistics of how this can happen. Still, you have certain sections of workers who will not want to unionise, and you cannot force them,” Caruana said.

This assertion was pounced upon by Xuereb, who said that forcing those workers to unionise is what the PL is suggesting, to which Caruana said that the proposal was in order to avoid situations where particularly low income workers are exploited and threatened with being sacked if they try to seek better conditions at their place of employment.

Xuereb suggested however that the government should focus on enforcing employment laws rather than removing the right to association, with Caruana replying that one of the things which he wants to work on most is enforcing the payment of national insurance contributions.

“Enforce it, sure, but we will protect the rights of workers to associate.  The results of unionisation depend very much on the sector and on good will.  Obliging people to be part of a union is not the answer,” Xuereb said.

“You have sectors where the workers will not want to become members.  It’s useless telling them to become members; but there are sectors where workers will be encouraged.  Still, I cannot see 100% unionisation happening,” Caruana said.

Xuereb suggested that the PL must have worded their ideas out wrongly in that case, adding that introducing mandatory unionisation risks “destroying our social dialogue.”

On his part, PN candidate Joseph Grech, who was also present and part of the event, said that while the PN wants to support unions, the party doesn’t agree with making membership mandatory.

“There is the right to association, but equally there is the right to disassociation.  Unions have an important role, but I don’t agree with membership with them being mandatory,” Grech said.