August 1999, Qawra Malta

GRTU versus One Labour MP!

Politically, at least at party level, I do not agree with Labour MP, Mr Noel Farrugia, but must admit to admiring him. The guy does not go around spreading himself thinly. He does not pontificate, as most parliamentarians do, on every known subject under the sun.

No sir, the above-mentioned sticks to one subject, agriculture and animal husbandry. And, on this one subject, his political specialisation, the guy handles himself with a passion reserved only for the man who knows the full length and breath of his discourse.

Of late, I followed his discord with GRTU on these correspondence pages. Mr Noel Farrugia should have known better before crossing swords with GRTU upon the effects of levies removal on his field of specialisation. He should learn from the way GRTU handles its debates.

Behold what happened in the Sunday shopping-hours' issue; GRTU's opponents are all history. Having been one such GRTU opponent, I was knocked off my horse and converted to its preachings.

Let it be reiterated that GRTU has decreed that Sunday is a day of rest. As GRTU faithful, we are expected to attend mass, following which, point our navels to the sun in blissful relaxation.

A fundamentalist interpretation of GRTU preachings would require that we read the Sunday newspapers as lightly as possible and, above all, desist from quoting them in a work-related context to avoid universal scandal.

In his letter (TMI 31 July 1999), Mr Farrugia ran severe risks of malediction by publicly quoting from the Sunday papers against none other than GRTU itself.

Heaven forbid, as happened in the Sunday shopping-hours' debate, GRTU might simply intone one of its many incantations and proclaim his arguments to be `dead' and that's that!