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The Sea Malta saga as it has come to be known has left some bruised and others seriously maimed. It is the union, the General Workers’ Union, that has been left mutilated by its own actions. Undoubtedly the secretary general Tony Zarb has been the hardest hit. If this is not a resigning matter what is?
Until going to print, there are no indications that this is to take place. More so when so many GWU members have abandoned their union because and we quote: “The union chose to play a dangerous game in the name of a few militant seamen who were more interested in their pockets.” It would be the honourable thing, but then one is not too sure that an ‘ideal’ replacement exists to Tony Zarb at the present moment.
What started as a very embarrassing episode for Minister Austin Gatt has developed into something unforeseen with the General Workers’ union walking into a cul de sac and making a fool of itself. What has been completely relegated to second division is the original idea behind all this saga: privatisation.
The whole episode is a killing ground for Austin Gatt’s spin machine – the boys at his ministry have left no stone unturned in fielding all their guns on the besieged persona of Tony Zarb. It is a natural reaction in the world of politics. In this state of affairs, the Labour party can only sit back and watch. It has guns to fire, no ammunition to store.
Its suggestion that it would set up a Sea Malta has fallen on deaf ears as has fallen the query whether Dr Gatt will be imposing some kind of public service obligation on Emanuel Grimaldi. The Labour party’s inability to control the thinking process at the GWU has left them without the room to manoeuvre.
If we are to be truthful, the actions of the GWU cannot be blessed by Alfred Sant – but his silence on the matter and refusal to dissociate himself from Zarb’s actions has allowed the PN media to pounce on him. Undoubtedly Sant faces a Catch 22 scenario.
The union has surely weakened its hand and has compromised its future dealings. In doing so it has let down thousands of its members and it has sent a signal to government that if there are any reforms to be had then this is the time. The latest week has seen far too many ‘interested’ or ‘hidden agendas’. The case of the terminal benefits for Interprint workers brings to the fore the accusation of a union only acting in the interests of a few.
The PN cabinet must be reconsidering its calendar of reform with such a besieged union – there is no doubt that many senior ministers are arguing that this is the time to push forward those thorny reforms that would have inevitably led to more union distress.
Indeed one of the more important and fundamental reforms, understated and played down are the changes in working practices needed to bring government workers in line with the private sector. The ones in the health sector – namely the paramedics is a case in point. Everyone talks of Mater Dei, but no one, least of all the far from vigilant Minister of Health, of the reluctance of many of the paramedics to embrace the migration to the new hospital and the need to recognise the need for new work practices.
To be fair it is not the GWU that needs to be tackled here but the UHM and the MUMN, which could offer some serious stumbling blocks too. The list is endless. This is the time to act – to only use this event to spin press releases on the GWU’s ‘ill-strategy’ will garner many political points for the Nationalist party but lead to few or no benefits in that buzzword we call reform.
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