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James Debono
In the wake of the loss of three veteran section secretaries, the General Workers Union has emerged bruised, with its leader’s performance judged positively by only 19.8 per cent of respondents in MaltaToday’s survey on people’s perception on trade unions.
Zarb owes his remaining support to Labour party voters where his popularity rises to 56.4 per cent.
Yet despite the trouble facing the GWU, secretary general Tony Zarb emerges as the most trusted union leader in the country. Zarb, who runs Malta’s largest union, only manages to scrape ahead of Union Haddiema Maqghudin’s Gejtu Vella by a sheer 0.9 per cent – an ominous indication that the gap between the two unions is indeed narrowing.
It is also an indication of the prediction by industrial relations expert Godfrey Baldacchino, whose studies claim that current trends in union membership could see the UHM overtake the GWU as early as 2012. As the UHM grows in stature, it also seems to be completely eclipsing the Confederation of Maltese Trade Unions (CMTU), whose secretary general William Portelli barely manages 2 per cent of preferences.
Although 41.4 per cent do not trust any trade union leader, only 14 per cent think that trade unions in general are a hindrance to the country’s progress, a reflection that trade unions are seen as a positive aspect of Maltese social life. The two largest unions are not seen as politically independent by the majority of respondents. Only 11.1 per cent consider the GWU to be independent of political parties. Despite annulling its historical merger with the MLP back in 1992, very few seem convinced that the GWU is politically independent. Yet even the UHM, which was never formally merged with any political party, it is still perceived to be politically partial by 60 per cent of respondents.
The Malta Union of Teachers emerges as the only major union to be perceived as politically independent. Despite its past confrontations with Labour governments in the 1980 when teachers were locked out, during the past years the MUT emerged as a conciliatory voice in the trade union movement. By marching side by side with Tony Zarb in a protest against the reduction in public holidays, Bencini broke with a history of animosity between the GWU and unions grouped in the CMTU.
Voters intending to vote for the Nationalist Party emerge as the most critical of the trade union movement.
While only 8 per cent of Labourites view unions as a hindrance, this opinion is expressed by 25.7 per cent of Nationalists. This could be a reflection of a stronger neo-liberal current in the PN.
Still, the vast majority of PN voters (45.7 per cent) think that trade unions give a positive contribution to the country.
Unsurprisingly, supporters of the three political parties trust different political leaders. While Gejtu Vella is the most trusted trade union leader by Nationalists (54.3 per cent), Tony Zarb emerges as the most trusted trade unionist by Labourites (60.2 per cent).
On the other hand AD voters are equally divided between those opting for Gejtu Vella and those opting for John Bencini (26.7 per cent).
Interestingly more Nationalist voters are convinced of the UHM’s political independence than Labour voters are convinced of the GWU’s impartiality. While 55.7 per cent of Nationalists perceive the UHM to be politically independent, only 21.8 per cent of Labourites think likewise of the GWU.
Additionally, different categories of workers hold different perceptions of trade unions.
Civil servants and public sector employees are the least likely to see trade unions as a hindrance to the country’s development: only 6.9 per cent of them think otherwise.
On the other hand 25 per cent of managers and professionals, as well as 17.8 per cent of private sector workers, have a negative perception of trade unions.
Public sector respondents were also more likely to be members of a trade union. While 59 per cent of this category of workers claimed to be trade union members, only 32.6 of those working with the private sector reported being members of a union. This could be an indication that a rift is growing between protected and unionized workers in the state controlled sector of the economy and those at the mercy of market conditions.
Methodological Note
A total of 494 respondents were contacted with 300 accepting to be interviewed. This survey has a margin of error of +/-5.7 per cent. The survey was conducted between Monday 4 September and Wednesday 6 September. Results were weighed to reflect the age and sex distribution of the population. Respondents were also asked to state their voting intentions. This part of the survey will be published in next week’s issue of MaltaToday.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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