GWU leaders re-elected after heated campaign

Abstract

At a congress held in October 2005, the General Workers' Union, the largest trade union in Malta, for the first time elected the five members of its administrative council by a secret ballot of delegates. All four incumbents who stood for re-election - including the secretary general - were successful in the election, which attracted considerable interest from the media. The General Workers' Union (GWU (http://www.gwu.org.mt/)) is the largest trade union in Malta in terms of the number of workers it represents (over 50% of all union members) and also the variety of categories of workers within its fold (MT0404102F (//www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories /eurwork/articles/the-development-and-current-situation-of-trade-unions-1)). It is divided into nine sections each of which is headed by a secretary, who is elected every four years from among its delegates. The administrative structure of GWU consists of a council composed of a president, vice-president, secretary general and two deputy secretaries general. The autonomy of GWU's nine sections and the heterogeneity of it membership often tend to give rise to divisions among the union's rank and file. These divisions came into the open prior to the union's annual congress in October 2005, which had to confirm or elect the five members of the administrative council, who had been in office for the past four years. In the past, the appointment or confirmation of the administrative council members had always been achieved by consensus and there had never been a contest. In 2005, the situation was different as there was more than one nomination for each of the five posts, so a formal election had to take place, by secret ballot among delegates.