Breakaway teachers’ union doubles in membership

Malta’s newest unions are attempting to carve away at the influence of major unions, as latest industrial figures show some positive membership figures.

The most impressive increase comes from the Union of Professional Educators, which started in 2017 with a membership of 564, and has now climbed to 1,866 in 2019.

The figure has to be seen in conjunction with the membership of the main teachers’ union MUT (Malta Union of Teachers). Since 2015, membership at the MUT has hovered well above the 9,000 mark, and in 2019 reached 9,903.

Over the previous years, the UPE saw membership increased by 1,302, while the MUT’s increased by 206. The increase in unionised members, however, does not reveal how many of these members could be registered with both teaching unions.

Another union which could be making inroads is the recently formed Independent Bankers Union (IBU), which like the UPE falls under the umbrella of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin (UHM). In 2019, the IBU registered 514 members, up from 493 in its first full year of operation, while the established Malta Union of Banking Employees (MUBE) has remained constant at 3,000 members.

By law, smaller unions without majority recognition on the workplace like the UPE and IBU cannot enter into negotiations on collective agreements. Indeed, both unions accused their main counterparts of either being in collusion with large employers or the government.

Recently, the MUT and the education ministry took exception at attempts by the UPE to launch their industrial directives.

And in banking, the IBU has accused HSBC of collusion with the MUBE and of preventing the IBU president to represent members during internal grievance or disciplinary procedures.

Elsewhere, Malta’s two major trade unions, the General Workers Union and the UHM have had modest increases in membership over the last years, with their figures staying relatively stable from 2014 onwards.

The other two unions with more fluctuating figures are the two police unions, with the Malta Police Association now counting 1,091 members, while the GWU-affiliated Police Officers Union not yet delivering its latest membership count – in 2018 it had 1,257 members.

Overall, trade unions declared a total of 101,801 employees as union members, while employers’ associations had a slight decrease from 9,563 members in 2018 to 9,388 in 2019, mainly due to a substantial decrease of 300 members from the Chamber of SMEs (GRTU).