Developments in Maltese industrial law

Abstract

Contrasted with other fields of law, industrial law in Malta is of a fairly recent origin. The slow rate of industrial development which can be largely attributed to the status of Malta as a fortress-colony and the lack of an adequately trained labour force together with the geographical size of the country, contributed to a lingering agricultural economy. Consequently, the coming of a strong trade union movement and an awareness to regulate the contract of employment in all its ramifications were also retarded. The first legal enactments concerned some aspects of the conditions of service of females and minors. These enactments were so limited in application that it can be safely said that the earliest sources of industrial law had to wait for the aftermath of the Second World War. The few legal instruments concerning workers and the small but militant trade unions of the inter-war period also have their significance, but legislation coming after the Second World War has outweighed them in importance because some of them either influenced later enactments or because they are still operative today. Industrial legislation in Malta owes its origin to the 'compact' between the Constitutional and Labour parties and also to the philanthropist side of the British administration when Malta was still a colony. However, it found its consolidation and expansion in the socialist ideology of the Labour Movement. Although Maltese industrial law is of a relatively recent origin, it covers a relatively wide spectrum of industrial relations) The earlier enactments were aimed at regulating the conditions of employment of certain workers, the introduction of compensation for injury during work or the enactment of a few rules to eliminate the hardships surrounding female and child labour. As years passed by the contract of employment was hedged by various legal rules which rendered employers legally bound to give wage increases and other improved conditions of labour to their employees. In recent years, trade union law has been consolidated with the extension of trade union immunity in criminal and civil matters, in introducing a more efficient system of arbitration and in protecting sympathy strike action. Industrial law has also progressed along lines which depart from the traditional pattern. The worker-student scheme made this area of law applicable to the educational sector while participatory structures have been fitted in a legal framework. Like other branches of law, industrial legislation should adjust itself to the contemporary social activity and consequently should be framed and applied in a manner which meets such exigencies.