Agreement had been close - Gonzi

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday he was amazed that the General Workers' Union, which claimed to have workers' interests so much at heart, had refused to make concessions when decisions needed to be made in order to raise productivity and competitiveness.

Dr Gonzi was speaking at the Zebbug Nationalist Party club flanked by Environment Minister George Pullicino and Roads Minister Jesmond Mugliett.

He reiterated that the government would go ahead with the measure announced in the budget speech so that public holidays falling on a weekend would not be added to vacation leave.

"The idea had been that everyone should make a small sacrifice to win much more in the long run," Dr Gonzi said, adding that the social partners had been "very close" to an agreement.

He said the Union Haddiema Maghqudin and the Confederation of Maltese Trade Union, as well as employers' representatives, agreed there was a good basis for a social pact. But the GWU, which claimed the government's proposal was expecting workers to bear the brunt alone, had objected.

Dr Gonzi said the GWU had decided to stick to its position without giving anything up.

The opposition, he added, had not only chosen to stay out of the discussions on the social pact but had also placed partisan interests before the national good.

"The political decision to organise a protest was the MLP's attempt to undermine social dialogue," Dr Gonzi said.

The MLP had tried to destabilise the government time and again to undermine important reforms, such as during the talks with Skanska on the new hospital, the sale of Fort Chambray and the re-introduction of the Gozo helicopter service. In all those cases Labour had worked to disrupt negotiations and, as a result, the country had suffered, Dr Gonzi said. Labour leader Alfred Sant's "latest" was that the opposition would only vote in favour of amendments to the Local Councils' Act, currently before Parliament, if the government agreed to change electoral boundaries for the national elections.

"What sort of negotiating is this? We will discuss changes to the electoral boundaries but this has nothing to do with local councils. I think the Leader of the Opposition should realise it is time for him to go as (columnist) Anna Mallia has said," Dr Gonzi said.

Mr Pullicino spoke on the plans for the modernisation of the waste recycling plant at Marsascala, saying that the fact that the EU would meet 70 per cent of the costs confirmed the high quality of the modernised plant. Unlike what the MLP and others were saying, bad odours and other inconveniences to residents of surrounding localities, including the Prime Minister himself, would be mitigated thanks to such advanced technology.