Trade unions in the Maltese private sector

An earlier version of this paper was published in Bank of Valletta Review, No. 13, 1996, pp. 17-30. Reproduced by kind permission of Bank of Valletta plc.A few metres' stretch of road down and around South Street, Valletta may be a more important site for local labour policy formulation than the Malta Council for Economic & Social Development, Parliament or even the Cabinet of Ministers. Literally within a stone's throw of each other lie the headguarters of the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions (CMTU), the General Workers' Union (GWU) and the Malta Employers' Association (MEA), the premises of the Department of Industrial & Employment Relations as well as that of the National Employment Authority, along with the Ministries of Social Policy and Finance, de facto sharing responsibility for industrial relations. This rubbing of shoulders may be a mere geographical coincidence; but it is certainly convenient. It is indicative of the pivotal role of social partnership in Malta, and an important barometer of a pluralist, democratic society.peer-reviewe