Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/580873
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2015 News 17 Labour party, fighting a rejectionist battle which ultimately widened the gulf between the union and that part of the left-wing intel- ligentsia which saw EU membership as a way to improve social and environmental stand- ards in Malta. One major weakness of the union under Zarb may well have been its reluctance to cut its umbilical chord with Labour and forge wider alliances. Although no longer structur- ally bound to Labour as it was before 1992, when it was part of the so-called "workers' movement", the union under Zarb ended up taking the brunt of the splits in Labour. Like Alfred Sant's fall-out with George Abela in 1998 when the party deputy leader called it day as Sant prepared to go in for ear- ly elections. Then the GWU's legal advisor, Abela's departure before the 1998 general election had deep repercussions for the un- ion. In 1999, Abela stood beside Tony Zarb and other GWU officials after the police ar- rested a number of Malta International Air- port employees following a union directive to strike. The union officials had raced after the police bus carrying the arrested work- ers and blocked its way at Marsa, where a scrum ensued. Zarb planted his body right onto the police bus's bumper. The stationary three-ton bus shuddered as the GWU boss took his seat. The divorce between Zarb and George Abela coincided with the union's fateful de- cision to campaign against EU membership. Abela's defection was subsequently followed by a purge of so- called "moderates" from the General Workers Union. Up until the mid-2000s, it looked like assistant secre- tary-general Manuel Mi- callef was gaining enough influence to make a run for Zarb's role. But after his failed leadership bid, Micallef ended up flirting with Gonzi's PN before returning back to Labour upon Muscat's election as leader. The flirtation with the PN strength- ened the perception in the union that the "moderate" faction was led by Nationalist stooges, a perception which led to a siege mentality. After 2008, under Muscat the PL moved to embrace the elements which had fallen off with Zarb as it gravitated to a more centrist stance. But the union appeared to have fos- silised, led by a so-called "militant" faction that was incapable of presenting an alterna- tive to Labour's drift to the right and setting its own agenda. Zarb's reluctance to press with demands for an increase in the mini- mum wage, realising that Labour would not back the union, was an example of his inabil- ity to renounce the GWU's innate Labour partisanship. The class enemy Surely the GWU's pact with Labour suited PN propagandists who always regarded the union as a convenient punching bag that allowed it to shore up support among its traditional middle-class support that loved to hate the union. Political fights with the GWU at the shipyards, its core support, was guaranteed to get middle-of-the-road voters' dander up. One such case was the union's dockyard section's principled opposition to the repair of warships, which was based on strict adherence to the Constitution's neutrality clause. Faced with Eddie Fenech Adami's assertiveness when confronted by threats of resistance from the union's mili- tant dockyard section, Zarb reacted with pragmatism by doing his utmost to avoid confrontation on this issue. But the co-option of Labour's "dissidents", like Manuel Micallef and George Abela by the PN media and government machine, merely increased the perception among Zarb acolytes that the PN had set in motion a coup aimed at weakening the union. This perception was solidified by the dia- bolical use of divide-and-rule tactics by Aus- tin Gatt and the ability of the Gonzi admin- istrations to buy the social peace through costly early retirement schemes. While Gatt would become the main driver of privatisa- tion, Gonzi as social policy minister molli- fied workers' anger by dishing out millions in debt relief for government corporations and shedding the bloated shipyards' workforce. The GWU was facing a changing world after 2003: Malta had voted for the EU, privatisa- tion was unstoppable, and the working class's children were social climbers enamoured with the Nationalist government's ethos of opportunity. One battle which captured the spirit of the times was the capitulation of Zarb's union to Gatt's antics over national shipping line Sea Malta. The message was clear: if Sea Malta seamen refused the terms set by the Italian company Grimaldi (to which Gatt offered the state company on a silver plate), they would have denied their land-based colleagues of a guaranteed employment with Grimaldi; or even better, a cosy job with some govern- ment entity. Gatt sowed the seeds of discord between the shore-based office workers and Sea Malta's seamen, sandwiching Zarb be- tween the two conflicting interests and di- viding Sea Malta workers. Gatt's triumph at Sea Malta paved the way for the privatization of the port and the Dockyard, which ultimately stripped the union of its power to bring the country to a standstill through its control of the ports. By offering generous early retirement schemes the Nationalist government even managed to sell the dockyard, historically the cradle of the Maltese labour movement. The ease with which the former Nationalist government continued to erode trade union might, and even unionization rights – for example by eroding the right to strike in the transport sector by widening the definition of essential services – further amplified the growing weakness of trade unions. Bashing Tony Zarb remained one of the PN's favorite hobbies, right up to the eve of the 2013 general election when the PN pub- lished the edited recording of Tony Zarb's declarations in a private meeting with a cleaning contractor and two mediators, in which Zarb is heard suggesting the union would use its influence to "give a push" in tendering processes to companies that are friendly with it. Ironically the tape, probably recorded by entrepreneur Dominic Gafà, ex- posed the PN's link to a contractor who was being accused by union of offering precari- ous conditions to cleaners. Opening up to new realities Despite the perception that Zarb was in- transigent and inward-looking, Zarb did show signs of opening up to new realities in the labour market. It was the GWU which in 2005 defended 55 exploited Indian work- ers installing air-conditioning at Mater Dei Hospital. It was under his leadership that the trade union set up a section for immigrant labourers. Under Zarb's leadership the un- ion also strengthened its ties with unions who were traditionally antagonistic towards it and the Labour party. Zarb actively coop- erated with the Malta Union of Teachers, marching alongside John Bencini in a protest against the hike in utility bills and support- ing FORUM's bid to gain representation in the Malta Council for Social and Economic Development. But he failed to heal the historic rift with the PN-leaning Union Haddiema Maqghudin. In fact the regular TV clashes between Tony Zarb and former UHM boss Gejtu Vella fur- ther amplified these divisions. Moreover it was the UHM which took the lead before the last election by presenting its 'Jobs plus' doc- ument, which included innovative proposals on free childcare which was endorsed by all political parties. The invisibility of the GWU in the months before the election in itself suggested an attempt by Labour to distance itself from its historical partner. But the election of a new leadership in the both the UHM and the GWU may help the cause of trade union unity, constantly un- dermined by rival demands for trade union recognition. The decision by the UHM to support the public transport strike led by the GWU may indicate a thawing in relations. Dependence on government As trade union membership continues to decline due to the rise of a largely non- unionized service sector and the decline of the industrial sector, the union also faced a growing financial crisis amplified by the de- cline in newspaper leadership. This made the union increasingly dependent on property investments made in the past years, which may well prove to be a poisoned chalice, which undermining the union's ability to confront the new government. In 2010, the GWU company purchased 1,800 square metres of basement and garage spaces for €302,818 at the A3 Towers, as well as the ground floor's showroom, cafeteria, and the first floor's showroom and second-floor 'mini mar- ket and pharmacy clinic' for €1.16 mil- lion; and then another 35 underlying ga- rages for €285,349 in 2012. Altogether, the GWU purchased the basement levels and first two floors of Montebello Brothers' A3 Towers for €1.74 million. The GWU- owned Paola Estates then became the pre- ferred bidders in an expression of interest from Transport Malta for the rental of new office space. ARMS was also looking into the possibility of opening an office in Valletta and renting out the space currently owned and occupied by a General Workers Union subsidiary, de- spite a contract approved by Parliament in 1997 which only allowed the GWU to rent out parts of the building to companies in which it had a 51 per cent shareholding. Zarb leaves a union whose might has been seriously called into question. The GWU's printing press is up for sale, its newspapers have little of the influence they once had with union members and the working class, and the reckless Labour partisanship may have cost it a modernizing platform to en- able it to build new bridges. While government's 'bailout' may offer the union some respite from its financial prob- lems, they also risk making the union de- pendent on Labour's good will. Ultimately the union may be forced to choose between rediscovering its ethos as a social movement engaged in popular struggles for social jus- tice – setting the agenda for the Labour Party – or to become increasingly dependent on the fringe benefits of its unofficial marriage to the Labour Party. No longer the wife, but now more of a mistress, accepting the La- bour's increasingly business friendly agenda. Zarb's departure leaves the union at a crossroads, opening questions on whether a wrong turn at the turn of the century cost Malta's largest trade union the very security it once accorded to its members. jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt Zarb's departure leaves the union at a crossroads, opening questions on whether he cost the union the very security it once accorded to its members Political fights with the GWU at the shipyards, its core support, was guaranteed to get middle-of-the-road voters' dander up After resigning as Labour deputy leader, George Abela would go on to leave the GWU as legal counsel and drift away from both the union and party as the eurosceptic militants took centre- stage, a battle that would see the loss of deputy secretary-general Manuel Micallef after a failed attempt at deposing Zarb from the top post at the union. CASUALTIES OF WAR