The theme of the webinar held on 10 and 11 December 2020 was – “Workers' Representatives 2.0 – Capacity Building for trade unions and workers organisations”. A total of 37 participants from 14 countries, and 14 speakers took part. A dedicated facility was set up at the Catholic Institute in Floriana from where UHM and other Maltese speakers delivered their presentations, while some of the participants followed proceedings on a big screen. The event was organised by UHM Voice of the Workers, with the support of EZA and the European Union.
Important aspects under the spotlight
The debates focused on the existential challenges being faced by trade unions in the wake of the rapid changes in the labour market, trends in unionisation of workers and strategies to generate the necessary resources for trade unions to function efficiently.
Other aspects covered were on the role of umbrella organisations, how to ensure effective social dialogue and workers’ mobility.
Research strongly suggests that union-supported voice is more effective than the alternatives, particularly under circumstances of business adversity, when it is most needed. Moreover, where there is no on-site union representation, workers often have no choice but to accept what is available to them. Often, it is the employer who chooses for them, the only alternative being to quit the firm or the job.
Though trade unions are not profit-making companies that does not mean they can operate in the red and show no surplus on the balance sheet. There cannot be growth within a trade union if there is no surplus.
In Malta even if union is completely financially autonomous from the government, it still must rely on the government on many aspects which are directly related to its capacity. Unless there is a mechanism to regulate the above and so far, as it is dependent on the government, autonomy is restricted to the benefit of the government which is supposed to be an equal player in the tri-partite social dialogue.
The bottom line for trade unions and union leaders is that adding new members, both in the old and in the new economy, has become more difficult than maintaining existing ties. However, it is the means that need to change, not the objectives.
The debate also touched on new forms of employment as this has a direct bearing on the relevance of trade unions, especially in the post Covid-19 world which will be increasingly dependent on remote facilities.
There is increasing evidence that the pandemic has decreased the appetite for job mobility. The increase in online spending brought about by the outbreak has implications on job creation and mobility. In the short-term jobs in certain sectors like tourism are being hit hard, widening income inequalities and affecting job mobility.
The advent of the so-called platform economy could lead to a reduction in job mobility, but government needs to address issues on workers’ rights. A mobile phone application platform is the employer in this case and consequently employing workers on self-employed status through this platform should not be allowed.
Meanwhile, the increase in remote working facilities is putting a strain on employees with children. In the case of youth, they are more resilient to the virus but more vulnerable to restrictions. In the EU youth unemployment between March and October 2020 rose by 2.6% which was the highest cohort among all ages. This meant that young people were most likely to lose their job. 64% of young people never teleworked before the pandemic but young people were most prone to do some telework after the pandemic.
Results and calls for action
Faced by an existential challenge, unions should commit themselves in favour of the following:
- Join forces and collaborate with each other to address certain challenges through umbrella organisations or a common front.
- Establish a case database which can be shared among trade unions in different countries to facilitate transfer of knowledge.
- Shared experience on how unions from different countries could intervene together such as UHM and USO, Solidarnosc and EZA in 2015 during the dispute involving Malta Public Transport whose mother company is Spanish.
- Union revitalization does not mean putting the clock back but doing things differently. What needs to be done differently, most likely, is membership itself and what it implies in terms of commitments, rights and obligations.
- Efforts must be made for new members to outnumber resignations, in order that unions register a surplus in terms of memberships
- Organisations such as EZA should consider action-based projects for its trade unions members who would like to take the next leap of putting the knowledge acquired from seminars into implementation. Such action-based projects can easily be done through EU funding tapped by EZA on behalf of the participants.
The seminar also called for action on the following issues which are of crucial importance for the relevance of trade unions in the emerging employment landscape:
- Regulation of online platforms which is creating a grey area that is giving rise to workers’ exploitation and new forms of precarious employment.
- Employment challenges must be addressed through education, better labour marketing, more investment for remote working, cheaper transport infrastructure to ease commuting, housing shortage and more affordable, more family-friendly measures and incentives in low-income regions.
- More support from unions to employers in favour of remote working which is being resisted in some quarters. Collective agreements are a powerful tool to promote certain changes.
- Remote working initiatives should be complemented with efforts for the implementation on the right to disconnect.
Conclusion
Transfer of knowledge and sharing of experiences between trade union representatives, participants and stakeholders during such events is important but should not be the ultimate objective. Raising awareness should only be the starting point. The success of such seminars must be measured through the tangible results achieved in the long term to implement action-based projects. In this respect EZA’s role is crucial as it can be the catalyst to set the ball rolling for its members to take a pro-active approach and bring about the desired change.