Employers lobby says mandatory unionisation ‘totally unacceptable’ proposal

The Malta Employers Association is opposing a proposal for mandatory union membership being championed by unions, namely the General Workers Union.

Addressing the MEA’s annual general meeting, president Joanne Bondin said any measure that would penalise employers on the basis of whether they are covered by collective agreements, was “totally unacceptable”.

Bondin said the MEA supported the Minimum Wage Directive, an EU framework to improve the adequacy of minimum wages, and access of workers to minimum wage protection. But while the law sets a target for collective bargaining coverage in member states, Bondin said it does not suggest any form of mandatory union membership.

“To be clear, we believe trade unions play a pivotal role in social dialogue… However, employers have no role in promoting or hindering trade union membership. The decision whether to be unionised or not, rests exclusively with the individual employee,” Bondin said.

“Consequently, any measure which rewards or penalises employers on the basis on whether they are covered by collective agreements is totally unacceptable to us. We are shooting down any notion of mandatory union membership, or penalties that will exclude employers from tendering for public contracts or EU funds. On the other hand, we support capacity building incentives that enable unions and employer organisations to function more effectively.”

The Minimum Wage Directive also refers to a reduction in in-work poverty. Bondin said in-work poverty should be addressed through the enforcement of employee entitlements, but mostly through upskilling and higher productivity. “In Malta, there is a need for economic transformation and a rationalisation of the human resource,” Bondin said.

“The adequacy of wages is also dependent on external variables outside of the organisation’s control. This has been occurring in Malta as a result of spiralling property and rental prices, and imported inflation,” she added.

Bondin said economic transformation was necessary to move people in higher value-added employment with an overall increase in national productivity leading to better conditions even for unskilled workers.

She also said Malta’s “bloated” public sector had led to a dependency on foreign workers, as well as blaming a slow uptake of automation and digitisation technologies. “We also see the need to channel human resources in areas where there are numerous opportunities for rewarding careers. A case in point is the maritime sector, which should be obvious for an island nation like ours.”

Bondin said Malta needed a long-term perspective as well as an open discussion about Malta’s fertility rate. “For Malta, this could mean a brain drain of precious resources who will seek a better quality of life elsewhere. Therefore, economic objectives need to be designed in tandem with well-being indicators, amongst them respect for the natural environment.”

The MEA president also said Malta had to be more proactive in identifying the implications of EU laws, citing as an example the impact of the Emissions Trading Scheme on maritime trade, “and the manner in which it went unnoticed until late 2023 when it was coming into force… we cannot afford to have issues like the ETS slip through the cracks.”

She also claimed that political scandals were fostering disillusionment among the younger generation. “They are becoming increasingly sceptical that success in life is the fruit of hard work and merit, or that justice is blind. Many are preferring alienation to participation, which is a state of affairs that is fertile ground for a drug culture, which is becoming a huge issue in our society.”

Bondin segued into the subject of drugs, saying it was “high time we enact a legislation that balances the rights of employees, their co-workers and employers about being under the influence of drugs and the workplace. Currently there are numerous lacunae that make it very difficult for companies to implement a drug policy. There is no point in promoting Occupational Health and Safety unless decisive action is taken on this matter.”

Bondin said the MEA also wanted appropriate institutional infrastructure for labour law compliance on foreign workers. “Many Third Country Nationals with expired employment contracts will inevitably end up working in the black economy if their renewal is not processed within ten working days. Many employers carry the risk of retaining them even if the renewal is pending so as not to let them out on the streets.”