The General Workers' Union (GWU) is a national trade union center

National trade union center

A national trade union center is a federation or confederation of trade unions in a single country. Nearly every country in the world has a national trade union center, and many have more than one. When there is more than one national center, it is often because of ideological differences—in some...

 in Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

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The GWU was founded in 1943 and has been politically identified with the Labour Party (Malta) as the trade union is the major left-wing trade union in Malta. The two were statutorily fused from 1978 to 1992, and continue to share many common objectives as is common in several European States namely Britain.

The GWU is the largest trade union movement in Malta and organised in a confederation format of 8 Sections each to an extent autonomous in conducting industrial relations. It is one of the two trade union centers recognised by the European Trade Union Confederation and the employees representative delegation at the International Labour Organisation. The sections cover the manufacturing, services and the public sector of the Maltese labour market and thus organise a wide cross section of interests.

The union is affiliated to the International Trade Union Confederation and the European Trade Union Confederation as well as various sectoral international and European trade union federations covering the same sectors the GWU is organised therein.

The 8 Sections of the Union covering most sectors of the economy are:
Government and Public Entities;
Professionals Finance and Services;
Chemical and Energy;
Manufacturing;
Hospitality and Foods;
Maritime and Aviation;
Metal and Construction,
Technology Electronics and Communications.

GWU Youths

The GWU Youth Section is active amongst youths affiliated to the GWU by projecting their voice both internally, within the GWU structure, and externally, on a national and international level http://www.gwuyouths.org/about.asp. The section is affiliated with UNI Youths, ETUC Youths, and ICFTU Youths.