Editorial | No to mandatory union membership
If anything, existing laws governing industrial and employment relations should be reviewed and adjourned to reflect modern-day realities and difficulties
The Labour Party is pledging in its electoral manifesto to initiate a discussion with social partners on mandatory union membership for workers.
The party is saying that it agrees in principle with this proposal, originally floated by the General Workers’ Union and picked up in a more nuanced way by the UĦM – Voice of the Workers.
Prime Minister Robert Abela and Finance Minister Clyde Caruana have explained that the rationale behind the proposal is to give low salaried workers protection on the shop floor through mandatory union membership.
The proposal may be well intentioned but it flies in the face of the right to freedom of association enshrined in the Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights.
Forcing every worker to join a union breaches the fundamental premise that a person has the right to choose freely whether to join an association and if so cannot be impeded from doing so.
Malta’s laws already make it illegal for an employer to stop their workers from joining a union. This makes the proposal being floated by the Labour Party futile at the very least and repressive at its worst.
If there is abuse, it should be tackled at source and directly with errant employers. The department of industrial and employment relations should be beefed up with enforcement officers to be able to act swiftly and effectively when a case of abuse is flagged. If need be, laws offering workers protection should be beefed up.
Government may also introduce onerous social obligations on companies that compete for public contracts to encourage bidders to raise their standards.
But another problem with making union membership mandatory is the fact that it could make unions more complacent or more unreasonable in their demands. This could have a crippling effect on the economy.
Earlier this week, Chamber of Commerce President Marisa Xuereb told the Finance Minister during a debate that mandatory union membership may shatter social dialogue and industrial peace. This leader believes that is too high a price to pay for a questionable proposal.
Malta does not need to go down this slippery slope that breaches human rights and has strong undertones of a totalitarian regime.
If there are problems in the way workers are treated in certain economic sectors – and there are problems – these should be tackled through targeted measures and proper enforcement of existing legislation.
Going for the steamroller approach will only backfire and create unnecessary problems. While it is positive that the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister have insisted on holding talks with the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development on the proposal, this leader feels it is a non-starter and should be scrapped.
If anything, existing laws governing industrial and employment relations should be reviewed and adjourned to reflect modern-day realities and difficulties.
It is in the interest of the wider economy and businesses that worker conditions are optimal, which is why social dialogue and industrial peace remain key cornerstones of Malta’s economic environment.