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It is difficult to decide what makes people like Reuben Buttigieg and Hubert Agius, former members of GRTU national executive council, believe that they can do a good service to small businesses and the self-employed by besmirching GRTU. To many they appear as puppets in a Punch and Judy show.
We at GRTU do not believe we are infallible, and we know there are various alternative ways how to reach the desired aim of consistently putting the interests of small business proprietors and of the self-employed on the nation’s agenda. But honestly, I do not believe GRTU is doing badly in this. The public is a better judge than I, but the feedback we regularly receive from members and non-members alike indicates that we have, over this last decade, more than ever, done all we can to make the authorities aware that the interests of the people we represent matter more than many others.
If we do not always get the results we aspire to, that’s another matter. But we are not government. We are a strong lobby group, in competition for the country’s attention and share of resources with many others.
The last budget speech indicates however that our methods work. Reuben Buttigieg and Hubert Agius want more militancy. They want us to emphasise more “Union” than “Chamber”. They believe in militancy. They think we are still at the Bastille. They fail to realise that Malta, like the rest of Europe, has changed. That our members are not willing to march in the streets and scream with placards in hand. They don’t want to strike act like the militant factions of workers unions. Of course, GRTU has not dropped militancy, but we leave it for the rare special occasions.
Under normal circumstances and with a government that prefers to talk and consult, we prefer to act more like a Chamber rather than Union. The workers at the Naxxar Trade Fair Centre know that hardly a week passes that we do not have one large section general meeting where we pull hundreds of businesses owners to help them address their problems. We hold national conferences on important issues like access to finance, EU standards, business development, etc, every quarter. Every week the GRTU central office is busy with at least three section committee meetings and other gatherings of business people. We regularly keep contact with over 9,000 businesses with information and return feedback through our mass e-mailing system. We hold each month a district or local gathering of business people one locality after another. We run an office which is a marvel for the tremendous work we put forward given the limited budget and staff.
We work on surveys gauging our member’s business prospects every three months. We instigate studies on which to base our policies. The most recent is Prof. Joe Falzon’s economic analysis. We sit on all the boards that matter to make sure the voice of our members are heard. We use the media to the best of our abilities with regular press conferences on themes brought up by our members committees, we publish press releases and press briefings and articles and comments and participate regularly on TV and radio programmes.
We represent small business owners on the Executive Council of EuroCommerce, UEAPME and CONFIAD Pan European Network. We have a representative on the employers’ side of the European Economic and Social Council. Wherever we have the opportunity we act with enthusiasm, ideas and projects to ensure that the voice of Maltese SME and Self Employed is heard and policies effected to their benefit.
But this is not good enough for Reuben Buttigieg and Hubert Agius. They were two out of three who disagreed with our Budget statement without even attending the Council meeting that agreed on the statement. Still they wanted to have it their way. In a childish pique following an emotional burst of silly anger they walked out of GRTU and now they want to justify their rush action by inventing stories, splatter false accusations and instigate honest people, like the good traders of Marsascala, to leave GRTU. And they want to convince the gullible that they are doing this for the benefit of SME’s and the self-employed.
People do disagree, but usually when their views do not command majority support, they either bide their time or leave without much ado. But not Reuben and Hubert. They want to sound heroic. We tried to disregard them knowing that serious business people have no time for silly stories. But like toddlers who dirtied their nappies, they keep running around proud of their deed unknowing of the smell.
GRTU has a great mission and a role that is becoming increasingly more significant. For almost 60 years many men and women made tremendous efforts to see this organization grow. We owe it to all these thousands of small proprietors and self-employed not to let the likes of Reuben and Hubert to succeed where others failed even to thread.
Paul Abela
President GRTU
(Malta Chamber of SMEs)
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