The government’s cost-of-living-adjustment mechanism should be linked to the national average wage as calculated by the National Statistics Office, the General Workers’ Union said yesterday.
Presenting the GWU’s budget proposals to the media, GWU general secretary Tony Zarb said the COLA needed to reflect inflation and rising electricity and water rates. He also called for it to be revised twice a year.
The Times recently revealed that this year’s COLA is likely to be €4.66 – more than four times the €1.16 increase given in 2010, which was the lowest in 15 years.
Mr Zarb also presented a series of other proposals which it had presented to the government.
The proposals call for female entrepreneurs to be entitled to maternity leave, the diversification of Malta’s economy to make it less dependent on specific sectors such as e-gaming, and for the government to directly employ cleaners, care workers and security guards working for government entities.
Describing current taxation levels as “too high”, Mr Zarb said the GWU was calling for a reduction in fuel tariffs. The reduction, he said, would subsequently be passed on to consumers in the form of cheaper products.
In a departure from tradition, the GWU also made a proposal for self-employed workers. Maternity leave benefits, it said, should be extended to self-employed women.
Malta has one of the lowest female labour participation rates in Europe, with only 35 per cent of women in some form of employment. The low rate, which Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has described as “worrying”, has been cited by a number of economists as one of the factors impinging on Malta’s competitiveness.
The GWU also called on the government to negotiate a moratorium on house loan repayments for workers who have lost their job or were forced to work reduced hours.
Pensioners, Mr Zarb said, should continue to receive the entire COLA, as well as be entitled to any bonuses given to workers.
Saying that the GWU was “concerned” by the impact an eventual EU-wide financial transaction tax would have on Malta’s financial services sector, Mr Zarb said that the government needed to fiscally incentivise the diversification of Malta’s economy.
As part of this, the GWU was insisting on the establishment of a specific committee within the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development to analyse the state of Malta’s competitiveness.
The proposals also touched upon the issue of precarious jobs, suggesting that any government tenders for such work should be based on labour costs per hour. Mr Zarb also reiterated calls for the government to employ such workers directly rather than through private companies.
“The government is already paying these workers indirectly. By employing them directly, it will have more control over working conditions,” Mr Zarb said.
Tourism to Gozo, the GWU suggested, could be stimulated by introducing financial incentives on Gozo Channel trips during low season.
The GWU also tabled a number of other proposals, including among others, a comprehensive analysis of the state of Malta’s workforce and the preferential treatment of people over 65 in healthcare services.
The proposals, which were presented to the government last Thursday, will be discussed this coming Friday in a meeting between government officials and the MCESD.