Comments on: Are they for real?

By: John Schembri

John Schembri — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 20:09:42 +0000

@ Amanda:The lecturers want the students to do their dirty work.I suspect they want to be in the good books of their employer.

If all professionals in government employment get the pay their counterparts get in the UK (for example) , we will have a highly unbalanced system where tax payers have to make good for an unjustified and hefty pay-rise.
The same professionals in the private sector cannot even put this lame argument with their employers, let alone get an equivalent wage.
Unions show their teeth only with the government, because the bottom line means votes.
When I wanted a wage rise in the private sector all I did was ask for it , if I felt that what I was offered was not enough I changed the job ,that was how I dodged the so called “wage freeze” in the Mintoff years.
When I was a union member in a factory we got 34cents payrise per week,in an agreemet which bound the employees for three whole years. All I can say is that I got another 30 cents (membership fee) because I resigned from this so called union.
I think we all knew that in certain EU countries the wages were higher than ours.There is no shortage of lecturers in our Uni, so what exactly justifies their industrial action? Is there a brain drain?

By: Corinne Vella

Corinne Vella — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:07:46 +0000

Perhaps the problem is an outdated way of thinking. “Down tools” meant factories lost money while production was suspended. The same cannot be said for educational institutions. What I can’t understand is why the lecturers/teachers don’t try to harness students’ support, instead of alienating them.

[Daphne – Because many of them alienated their students a long time ago and it’s too late to do anything about it now.]

By: Corinne Vella

Corinne Vella — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 18:31:39 +0000

That’s a surprising action, Mr Farrugia. The people who will be hurt by this action are those who cannot afford private treatment. That would include trade union members, I’d imagine.

By: John Scembri

John Scembri — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:51:08 +0000

@ Albert Farrugia, I don’t care about what Gonzi PN has achieved . My point is that if a union calls for partial action the strikers get partial pay for the partial service they give.

If lecturers want to take action they should strike. As things stand ,the students are in limbo and the lecturers are being paid in full.The only people who are suffering are the students. Same situation with the dentists’ and the nurses’ partial strikes.
If unions really believe in workers’ rights they shouldn’t ‘kidnap’ their vulnerable clients ( read: tax payers & working class people)in the industrial action while their striking members do not suffer the natural consequences ie: less pay.
When we stiked we suffered the consequencies: NO PAY.
Nowadays unions call for a partial action (less work)and the strikers get full pay, in my opinion this is scandalous.
I do not like it when I am not being served, while the one who should be giving me the service is getting paid as if s/he is giving me the required service.
I am not against unions , they can be beneficial to their members, but they should not forget their social responsabilities.
I really liked the way they worked on the utilities’ bills issue, they did a lot of good.
Unions are not taking radical actions because they are afraid that their members would not obey their directives.On the other hand partial action is very convenient , it would not hurt their members in their pockets and less work of coarse.
So if a lecturer feels that he is underpaid and does not have enough perks , then he should strike together with his colleagues.In that way the lecturer convinces me that he believes in the cause he is fighting for.
As things stand the students are the only victims.
I would say well done to whoever pays partial strikers a ‘partial’ salary.That would be justice.

By: Albert Farrugia

Albert Farrugia — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 08:21:02 +0000

@John Schembri
Well, perhaps now that under GonziPN Malta has reached its Nirvana, unions should disband altogether. Wouldn’t that be your ideal solution Mr Schembri?
Get real, what industrial action can a lecturer take if not something which would affect students? How can a teacher “hit at the government”? By throwing paint at Castille? Thus earning the label of vandal? What you really believe, like most of those who think like you, is that unions should be powerless sweet kittens. This political aim has in fact largely been achieved by this present PN government who can now look at a trade union scenario which has become totally fragmented and, as such, powerless. Well done PN! You have managed to do what Communist regimes tried for 40 years to do in Europe!

By: Meerkat :)

Meerkat :) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 18:23:44 +0000

No, Daph, they’re not real…they’re dentures after all.

These directives bite.

By: John Scembri

John Scembri — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:36:02 +0000

Malta’s unions use two weights and two measures.When dealing with the government they hit the (voting and paying)public with their actions. Their members are instructed not to perform part of their duties : nurses not to take care of their patients , lecturers not to prepare exams , water services employees not to answer the phone and now dentists not to do a big chunk of their duties.
If a union orders such industrial actions in the private sector the immediate reaction would be a lock out. Can we imagine a union ordering sales persons not to sell or tell receptionists not to answer the phone?
How many dentists do this work and other related work in their private clinics?
How many university lecturers are quitting the job because they are not being paid the salaries of their counterparts in Europe?
These unions are biting the hand that feeds them.
If a union orders a strike the workers are not supposed to get paid , if it orders a partial strike then the workers should have part of their salaries deducted.
Presently as things stand ; a union calls for partial industrial action and punishes the clients of that public service , the same clients who happen to be tax payers pay the strikers the same salary for a full day’s work.
Who are they really punishing?
Would any union dream of taking partial action in today’s circumstancies in the private sector?