The Malta Employers Association, the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of SMEs today called for the immediate withdrawal of the PL’s proposal for mandatory union membership.

Spokespersons of the associations addressed a press conference, saying that the mandatory union membership proposal goes against the country’s constitutional principles.

President of the MEA Joanne Bondin said that the employer bodies have always opposed this kind of proposal, due to the risk that it will force industrial relations within the country to change drastically, she said.

“We believe in the role of trade unions; however, we also believe that a person has the right to associate themselves with a union of their own volition,” Bondin said.

President of the Malta Chamber of Commerce Marisa Xuereb said that the proposal will deprive workers of their human rights. Mandatory membership also reduces the incentive that workers have to carry out their job correctly, Xuereb said.

“The mandatory union membership proposal is a regressive one, which creates an unfair playing field and reduces from workers’ fundamental rights,” Xuereb said.

CEO at the Malta Chamber of SMEs Abigail Mamo said that the PL’s proposal has induced serious worries in small businesses, who are concerned that their positive relations with their employees will change upon implementation of the proposal. Mamo said that there has been no situations or circumstances where the employer’s bodies felt the need for a mandatory union membership proposal.

Director General of the MEA Joe Farrugia said that the proposal goes against the constitution and fails to consider social dialogue between the government and employers and workers.

He encouraged political parties to focus on capacity building, saying that the proposal will result in serious disruption in social dialogue systems in Malta.

Farrugia called for action for more assistance to trade unions, which despite being promised an increase by 50% during the PL legislature, it was effectively reduced to 8%. “This is not due to the pandemic either,” Farrugia said.

Malta’s union density is relatively high compared to the ones of other countries, with administrative data placing Malta’s union density in the 50% region, Farrugia said. In the Maltese context, declared trade union membership up till 2021 resulted to 107,000 members, he said.

Whilst Malta’s union density continues to increase, TU membership in foreign countries continues to decline due to various reasons such as individualistic cultures, saturation of conditions in collective agreements and an over regulated labour market which results to limited room for collective bargaining, Farrugia said.

Other reasons include legal practitioners taking over TU and employer organisation roles, companies who may see EOs as being ineffective in promoting employers’ interests as well as unreasonable expectations from the respective members, Farrugia said.

Some of the Nordic countries, which have a higher TU density than Malta, such as Iceland (92%), Denmark (67%), Sweden (65%) and Norway (50%) have adopted the Ghent System, which refers to unions administering unemployment benefits, serving as a type of insurance for workers, Farrugia said.

The average for the TU density in OECD countries is currently at 17%, as other countries reported considerably lower memberships than Malta, Farrugia said.

Farrugia said that the proposal goes against the ILO Convention 87, of the United Nations Charter for Human Rights, the European Court of Human Rights and the Maltese Constitution, which clearly establishes in Article 42 that no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of peaceful assembly and association.

Farrugia said that countries with obligatory union membership, which include China, Iraq, Iran, Laos, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkmenistan, and Vietnam, should not serve as a model for industrial relations in Malta.

Several reasons go into why companies or individuals do not associate themselves with a particular union, as well as why unions and employer organisations refuse a company to join their association.

“Employer bodies also conduct their due diligence and have the right to refuse an applicant if they do not meet certain criteria for the union,” Farrugia said.

Farrugia said that while trade unions and EOs conduct customized solutions for their members, promote a culture of solidarity as well as remaining accessible for all workers, pursuing obligatory memberships is unconstitutional and will be challenged even at an international level.