Reggie Miller and his General Workers' Union : 1943-55

Abstract

This union, as could be expected, stimulated a great deal of controversy, some stemming from a genuine belief that trade unions should keep away from politics, others, because of political motives. Having just started my research about the GWU, it became interesting to try and find out how the relationship with the MLP started; this became the basis for this thesis. However, such a topic entailed a vast amount of research for which there was not sufficient time. Therefore, the period was limited from 1943, the year in which the GWU was founded, to 1955, the year in which the GWU supported the MLP in the general elections for the second time. It was also clear that trade union involvement in politics would have to be treated and this is what Chapter One deals with. To begin with, it looks at the growth of trade unions from mere craft guilds to general trade unions and eventually organisation on a national basis. But it took almost a century to achieve this, most the time being a struggle against the industrialists and capitalists, whose power in Parliament enabled them to legislate against unions. This was the story of British trade unionism, whereas on the continent it followed a different course, but Malta’s close links with Britain made it inevitable that the British pattern would be followed. Similarly, local trade unions were dragged into politics plus the consequential trouble with the church authorities, and this hampered trade union progress to that in pre-war Malta only attempts, some of which were quite admirable, were made at establishing trade unions. Chapter Two takes up this situation, with the formation of the GWU, largely on the initiative of Reggie Miller who had witnessed the fortunes, or misfortunes of the labour movement during the 1920s and 1930s. This chapter also gives a picture of Miller’s background because the GWU stood for what he believed in and for years he personified the union. This chapter also leads up to the decision to support the Labour Party in the 1947 elections. The third chapter looks at the effects this decision had on the union, its non-involvement policy during the split within the MLP, and its strained relations with different Nationalist administrations of the first half of the 1950s. The result was again a decision to support the MLP, Mintoff’s party, in the 1955 elections, although for years the policy of the GWU was leaning towards the party especially because of influx of MLP members into the GWU executive.