Reggie Miller and the post-war socio-political challenges

Abstract

This study attempts to analyse some salient points of Miller's General Workers Union from its foundation in 1943 to his retirement in 1958. This is done in the context of the conflict of interests between Britain and the islanders seeking to enjoy and maintain a good standard of living and an acceptable constitutional status for their island home.

Soon after its foundation the G. W. U. was instrumental in the reorganisation and the revitalization of the Labour Party that then led to the establishment of the Labour Front. As a trade union embracing all classes and sectors of workers, the G. W. U. was distinct from all previous trade unions both in character and scope. The welfare of the mass of workers it embraced could not be attained without the Union's total involvement in the general economic and constitutional progress of Malta. Inborn cooperation between the G.W.U. and the Labour Party was inevitable and in the National Assembly they had their first training in unity, collaboration, and mutual support. Miller, however, always insisted on keeping the Union's identity intact - a task sometimes difficult in view of the majority support enjoyed by the Labour Party within the G.W.U.'s membership.

The 1949 split in the Labour Party over the ultimatum issue may be said to have deprived the workers' movement for five years of an effective say in the running of their country. The G. W. U., after initially trying to keep equidistant from the two factions, slowly moved towards supporting Mintoffs M.L.P. and the Labour Movement reappeared as a united and solid front whose efforts were crowned by an overwhelming success at the 1955 elections. This success was taken to mean that the Labour Government had a clear mandate to insist on Integration.

In Reggie Miller the Union had a founder who was a staunch supporter of Malta's right to an enhanced constitutional status that would give the island both dignity and economic prosperity. When in the fifties the Malta Labour Party proclaimed that Malta's constitutional future lay in either Integration or self-determination, with an option for the first alternative, Miller's G.W.U. found it naturally easy to give wholehearted support to the M.L.P. For the Maltese workers Integration meant parity with their British counterparts. Miller had proposed union with Britain at a G.W.U. rally in Pawla in May 1943. The Union's loyal support was not affected when the Catholic Church opposed Integration.

Britain's reappraisal of its international commitments after the Suez crisis led to discharges at the Dockyard and a general rundown in employment as a result of diminished Defence spending. This posed a threat to Malta's future, and created problems for the G.W.U. and the Government. The Defence workers were heartened by the national support, particularly when the Legislative Assembly unanimously adopted the historic 'break with Britain' resolution. This was followed by the resignation of the Labour Government, a general strike called by the G.W.U., and anti-British manifestations. The Integration proposals were no longer possible and the struggle for Independence was set in motion.

Miller retired from his position as General Secretary of the G.W.U. in the same period. By this time the workers he had led were organized in a strong union. They had attained both self-respect as a class as well as vastly improved social and working conditions.