I refer to the Labour Party’s agreeing in principle with forcing workers to join a union, according to its election manifesto. Unless I am missing out on something, to my mind, should such compulsory unionisation materialize itself it will be directly going against the provision of Article 42 of our Constitution that lays down “Except with his own consent... no person shall be hindered in the enjoyment of his freedom of peaceful assembly and association, that is to say, his right peacefully to assemble freely and associate with other persons and in particular to form or belong to trade  or other unions or associations for the protection of his interests”. The emphasis should be laid on the keyword “freely”.

Apart from the legal issue involved, there could be the other issue of whether compulsory membership of labour unions benefits all workers. If union membership is compulsory then anyone who cannot or does not wish to join the union simply cannot work. That is certainly not a benefit to the workers being excluded from employment opportunities. Other exponents have touted the benefits of union membership without discussing any of the pitfalls. Unions claim to represent the interests of the workers, but actually, a union represents the interests of the union first and foremost and any benefit to the membership is collateral.

 

Dr Mark Said

Msida