editorial

Toon Today: Recycling programme

The party is over, folks

Mr Tony Zarb, the Secretary General to Malta’s largest union, called on the Prime Minister not to take advantage of the goodness of the Union.

He went even further and referred to a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development from the Finance Minister and purposely leaked to a journalist renowned for his factional politics.

He (Tony Zarb) said God forbid that he (Mr Dalli) might have anything to do with running the country because he had ruined it.

Of course, Mr Zarb did not refer to the state of the economy and the quality of life before Mr Dalli appeared on the scene.

Perhaps, Mr Zarb was far happier in the days of a black and white television, a ration card and of having his members accused of all sorts of nasty things, by Dom Mintoff.

Which beckons one to question a number of points linked to Mr Zarb’s accusations.

Mr Zarb would have been correct if he had stated that the government is too soft and has accepted far too many union demands. If anyone was taking advantage of the goodness of someone, it was Mr Zarb.

This government was wrong on a number of issues: it gave in to the Dockyard workers, it gave in to the government employees and it gave in to union demands. In doing so, the bill the taxpayer has had to fork out is extraordinary. The middle class has had to bear the brunt.

We should not focus all our attention on the Dockyard, there have been other indefensible pay increases, namely the ones at Air Malta, Maltacom, Enemalta and the Freeport.

And the Union acted here, with total disregard for the accounting attitudes within these companies.

It makes us wonder who exactly has shaken the finances of the country.

Eye-openers will point to the exaggerated hand-outs in collective agreements concocted by the unions and allowed by Government.

To accuse this benevolent and soft Government of being cruel to the unions is not only rich, but completely absurd.

The GWU should be congratulated for allowing its members to swoop in cash allowances and arrears, in return for inefficient work and inappropriate behaviour.

We have workers at some parastatal companies with no education, skills or discipline, who return home with pay packages of Lm9,000 to Lm14,000 - the equivalent to qualified managers in the private sector.

This government should take up this wake-up call seriously.

The party is over.

And let us not forget, before concluding, that this is the Union that objected to the introduction of VAT, simply because its mentor, the Labour Party dictated so.

The General Workers’ Union’s ultimate disregard for the finances of the country are exemplified in its inordinate response to restructuring.

How can one restructure by retaining the same number of staff?

No wonder Dr Gonzi criticised Mr Zarb’s words which pointed to a truth that uncovered the Union’s lack of understanding for the realities of the world and local economy.