This section was launched at the National Congress in October 2017. This was done after the need to have a section that deals with International Relations while coordinating its work with the other sections. all as well as with the Central Administration. This section deals with everything coming from overseas including:
- International affiliations
- Coordinating the official travel of GWU and Shop Stewards.
- Full participation in the European Social and Economic Committee
- Participation in decision making for workers at European and International level.
The GWU is affiliated with the largest confederations both at the European level (European Trade Union Confederation) and at the broader international level (International Trade Union Confederation). In addition, the GWU is the official representative of all Maltese workers in the International Labour Organization. During the conference, which takes place once a year and lasts 15 days, issues related to the world of work are discussed. The conference is attended by representatives from all over the world from trade unions, employers’ organisations and the government. GWU representatives will do their utmost to be present at the sessions and contribute to the ongoing discussions. The GWU will participate with its voice in the decisions to be made. Officials from Central Administration or International Secretary will attend these meetings.
In addition, all GWU sections are affiliated to confederations representing their sectors at European and world level. This means that each secretary plays an important role in these confederations, where participation is very active. The GWU is the only Maltese Confederation that participates at these levels. Section Secretaries have the power to delegate travel to other officers in their section to further increase. awareness of those involved in the same section and to better distribute the work.
Another important function of the International Section is to send Union Officials as well as Shop Stewards for training abroad. The Union is also affiliated with the European Trade Union Institute where it organises many training courses on topics discussed at European level. Most of these training courses are accredited. These courses range from two-day workshops to week-long courses where Union members from all over Europe register. This gives participants the opportunity to gain a European perspective on the subject as well as to build important networks that they can further use in their work.
The Secretary of the International Section, Mr. Jason Deguara, has been nominated by GWU to serve a five-year term as a full member of European Social and Economic Committee. Most of the meetings are held in Brussels, where opinions are drafted on various issues, which are then forwarded to European Parliament for discussion and implementation. Therefore, the importance of this committee and the active participation of the Union is crucial to get our message across on issues that will greatly affect Maltese and Gozitan Workers in the near future. The committee is made up of three groups, one representing employers, one representing employees and one representing civil society. This is done so that the voice of each citizen is given the attention it deserves throughout the discussion.
