The General Workers Union said it will not accept any changes to the way the cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) is worked out, saying the mechanism has been in place for 32 years. 

The union warned in a statement that any proposals by employers to not give the COLA to all employees would be against the law. 

The union was reacting to a proposal by the Malta Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise and Industry suggesting workers whose salaries went up this year should not get the COLA. 

Times of Malta reported on Monday that the COLA, awarded annually to compensate for inflation, is likely to approach €10 per week by the post-summer budget, up from €1.75.

According to the workings of a fixed formula that takes into consideration the minimum wage and the past year’s inflation, the adjustment now stands at around €9.10 and is likely to reach around €9.90 by the time it is announced in the October budget.

All employees are awarded the COLA every January. The adjustment is worked out using a formula that takes into consideration the prices of a basket of goods and services, many of which have soared in recent months. COLA was introduced in 1990 after an agreement between social partners. 

In its statement, the GWU also said that when the workers were given just a few cents based on the same mechanism, the employers accepted it as it was part of the agreement. Now, even if the COLA will be higher, the same still applies, the union said. 

"We insist that nobody can break this agreement between the social partners," the union said. Going back on the agreement would result in "industrial issues" everywhere, it said. 

The union also noted that Malta had one of the lowest inflation rates in Europe.