GWU boss was discussing contractors’ underpaid employees – union

The General Workers Union is claiming a 'secret' recording broadcast by the Nationalist Party media is an edited conversation of an exchange that took place in mid-2012 between GWU secretary-general Tony Zarb and a contractor over precarious employment.

The GWU said it had received reports of unfair treatment from employees of a prominent cleaning contractor, who was submitting offers for cleaning services to the government at prices showing his workers would be paid at rates below the national minimum wage.

"The GWU tried to negotiate for better working conditions for employees of the contractor but it was evident that the good will to improve the employee's working conditions was lacking on the part of the contractor. It was in this stated context that the GWU newspapers reported that the contractor's employees were being exploited," the GWU said in a statement.

Around mid-2012, the contractor made contact with the GWU and days later a meeting took place.

The GWU said that the union discussed the possibility that the employees be allowed the freedom to join a trade union, and that the contractor and the union should normalise their relationship rather than work against each other.

The GWU also said that while the government was awarding public tenders to contractors for values that do not allow bidders to provide just payment and working conditions, the GWU would do its best to see that contractors who promote precarious work practices would be excluded from public contracts.

"Labour had long before taken a position against precarious work in public tenders and it was for this reason that in the recorded conversation it is stated that 'if things change' it would be difficult for the contractor to operate without respect for employee rights. The 'mediator' in the conversation in fact continues to state that 'Labour would definitely not allow you to operate'," the GWU said.

The GWU said that the union had told the employer that it would continue to oppose tenderers who do not respect their workers, but that it would no reason to give bad press to a contractor that respects employees.

"The GWU declares that under Nationalist governments it supported bidders for public tenders who honour workers' conditions of employment, more so when jobs were at stake. It does this by providing good references where appropriate, in full respect of the law, and it has no hesitation in continuing to do so, irrespective of which party is in government.

"Whilst for political convenience, the PN bowed to the union's insistence that public tenders should respect worker rights, in the electoral campaign it had no qualms about defending a contractor whom the GWU criticised for inappropriate work practices. This does not augur well for those employees who are still suffering from precarious work practices."