7 - 13 June 2001

Union action on budgetary measures

The Court of Appeal’s decision in favour of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin over a stand taken on budget measures in 1998 could have serious repercussions on the government’s running of the country.
The Appeal’s Court decision found that a stand taken by the UHM in 1998 at the Freeport, in protest over budgetary measures, was considered a trade dispute. This decision was based on its interpretation of a pre-1982 British law which stated that for a trade dispute to exist it was enough that it be connected with conditions of employment. Although this law was amended in Britain, it was not changed in Malta.
What is of concern is not the fact that the UHM won its appeal but rather that the decision, as described by the president of the Malta Employers’ Association, Alfred Mallia Milanes, is “very serious” and possibly putting the government at the mercy of trade unions.
This decision makes it relatively easy for unions to call a trade dispute with the government over budgetary measures if these measures affect employment. While the unions have all the right to call a trade dispute, we are not denying this fact, they now have a dangerous weapon in their hand, a weapon they should never have in the first place.
As Mr Mallia Milanes told a local newspaper earlier this week, “I believe trade unions have a right to protest and voice their concerns, but governments should be allowed to work. This is a threat to the country.”
The government cannot afford to be in a position whereby the unions dictate what measures should be introduced in the budget, otherwise the government would be but a puppet on a string. And this is not acceptable in a democracy. This newspaper hopes that the unions will have restraint before using the Appeal’s Court ruling just for the sake of it. They have a right to calling a trade dispute but they do not have a right or a mandate to rule the country. There is a limit to how far union action can be tolerated, especially in a democratic country like Malta.

The right decision
The government’s decision to publish all information gathered during membership negotiations with the European Union is a step in the right direction and clearly shows that the government has nothing to hide.
This newspaper, and other media, have been calling on the government to publish all the information it had gathered over the past months and now, after considerable criticism, the Prime Minister has acceded. We are sure, however, that rather than bowing to pressure, Dr Fenech Adami and his cabinet have realised that keeping those reports under wraps would only give the impression that there was something to hide.
“We never had anything to hide on the negotiations with the EU, and so the government decided to publish all the information we have,” the Prime Minister said. He did, however, call for caution when it came to those chapters that are still being negotiated. On both counts we agree with Dr Fenech Adami. The government should act in as transparent a manner as possible, however it would be unwise of the government to put its cards on the table before certain chapters are closed and at the risk of stalling the process.
We have stated in various editorials that the government must be more transparent in the way it is handling the EU accession issue. Even Moody’s report on Malta touched upon this point and warned that the Opposition’s anti-EU campaign was having a greater impact on the Maltese voter.
Moody’s says in its report: “The pro-EU position is not well enough understood, due to the lack of a concerned effort to explain the benefits such as faster growth and enhanced macroeconomic stability that would result from trade integration. By contrast, the MLP-led anti-EU views have been more effectively presented through the media.”
Leaving its Yes campaign too late in the day will not only give the Labour Party an added advantage but the task of convincing the electorate that EU membership is the one and only options could prove to be an insurmountable task.
The government has made the right move in publishing the information it has at hand. It has therefore shown its critics that the government has nothing to hide. What Dr Fenech Adami needs to do now is get his government’s PR department in shape. Without an effective communications strategy it will take much more than a few papers on EU negotiations to convince the voting public that full membership is the only correct choice. This must be done sooner, rather than later.