Employers associations say union membership should be a free choice

A number of employers associations - the Malta Employers' Association, the Malta Chamber of Commerce Enterprise and Industry and the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association - came out against the idea of obliging workers to join a union and companies to be associated with an employer organisation.

They were responding to the Prime Minister's statement in parliament, where he encouraged a discussion about possibility of introducing such obligations. The aforementioned employer organisations stressed that the decision to join a union or employer body should be left entirely up to the individual employee or company to decide. 

 They insisted that the right to freedom of association is enshrined in ILO directives, and the freedom of association implies also the freedom to disassociate oneself from either a trade union or employer organisation. Compulsory membership does not add to anyone's rights. 

"On the contrary it diminishes individual freedom by removing the right not to form part of any organisation." The bodies agreed that there should not be any barrier to keep anyone from exercising the right to associate, but that ultimately the decision rests with the individual as a free choice. "It is up to the organisations to keep themselves in tune with the needs of their target publics to increase their membership."

They added that, according to the trade unions' annual declarations to the Registrar of Trade Unions at the Department for Employment and Industrial Relations, Malta has among the highest rate of unionised employees in the EU. "This is a clear indication that employees are not hindered in any way from becoming trade union members if they see value in such affiliation."

On the other hand, the Forum Unions Maltin (For.U.M) welcomed the Prime Minister's proposal for discussions on trade union representations.

For.U.M. believes that higher membership affiliations in trade unions will result in improved benefits to employees whilst a higher membership rate will widen the representation of members in trade union structures. Furthermore For.U.M. has remarked in the past that the non-affiliated membership minority is reaping the benefits of collective representations including financial packages without contributing towards the achievements of the same. "A mature discussion in the applicable fora to bring about changes to address this issue is most welcome."

 

 

 

 

from The Malta Independent https://ift.tt/2JyCC9q
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