The employees’ monetary contribution towards trade unionism in Malta

Abstract

The aim of this research is to focus on the Government of Malta’s recent proposal on mandatory TU membership which sparked a national debate and various controversies emerged among social partners. The proposal, as presented by the Government in 2018 aims to widen trade union membership by enacting laws that would obligate employees in Malta to either become trade union members, or otherwise contribute financially towards the concept of trade unionism which is meant to expand the trade unions’ role at a national level. Subsequently, this study is to explore the role that compulsory monetary contribution would play with respect to trade unionism in Malta. To obtain an insight on the rationale behind the Maltese Government’s proposal, this study draws on Olson's theory of the Logic of Collective Action (1965). Using primary data, this research explores: 1) the role of trade unions in the Maltese labour market; 2) the main hurdles trade unions are facing; and 3) the centrality membership plays for trade unions. Furthermore, by means of secondary data, this study investigates a number of industrial relations models practised in developed countries. It is against this background that this study seeks to suggest which of these models might best fit the Maltese industrial relations context. In order to investigate the employees’ monetary contribution towards trade unionism in Malta, 11 semi-structured interviews were conducted with protagonists of industrial relations in Malta, who are either involved or have publicly discussed the proposal of compulsory trade union membership in Malta. The data collected was analysed using the Thematic Analysis Approach (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The research recognises that employees’ monetary contribution would address three main issues. These are to: 1) reduce the free-rider effect at an enterprise level; 2) contribute towards the service trade unions’ offer at national level; and 3) minimise the hurdles faced by trade unions when recruiting new members. On the basis of the primary data collected from the international models that were explored, this research suggests a trade union membership default model of industrial relations that includes an opt-out option. This opt-out choice is crucial for this system as it became evident that the trade union security agreements presented in this study hinder the employees’ right of non-association. With regard to employees who would want to exercise the right of non-association, this research suggests that a monetary contribution could still reasonably be deducted from their wages. This contribution would go towards a specific fund established to assist TUs in Malta to strengthen the service they provide at a national level.