GWU isolated as MCESD meeting ends in stalemate

A meeting of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development ended in stalemate yesterday after five hours of discussion in what seemed like a throwback to the failed talks on the social pact.

Industrial action ordered by the General Workers' Union will continue as planned, with its general secretary, Tony Zarb, saying shortly after the meeting: "It's now up to the government".

The meeting started at 1.30 p.m. with Prime Minster Lawrence Gonzi having to leave early, at about 3 p.m., because of other commitments. At that point, the discussion was described by Dr Gonzi as "cordial and constructive". Some two hours later, however, all the social partners except for the GWU were describing the discussion as yet another failed attempt at reaching a much-needed consensus.

The union confirmed that the discussions had ended in deadlock at a press conference held shortly after at its headquarters in Valletta.

The meeting had been called by the Prime Minister as a reaction to the GWU's request for a meeting with him to discuss a number of issues, chief among which was what the union sees as the heavy burdens being placed on low-income workers as a result of the oil price hikes.

In the early rounds of the meeting, the social partners had reached some sort of agreement on the commissioning of a social impact assessment that would gauge the effect of the measures on the workers.

However, the GWU insisted it would only put its name to such an agreement if the government committed itself to compensating the workers for the burden.

Just before this proposal was made, Central Bank Governor Michael Bonello gave a presentation highlighting the state of the economy.

Social partner representatives who were at the meeting explained that Mr Bonello stressed the fact that international oil price hikes are external to the Maltese economy. Therefore, talk of compensation basically equated to shifting the burden from one sector to the other as, ultimately, it was the local economy which had to make do.

The rest of the constituted bodies, including the Confederation of Maltese Trade Unions and the Union Haddiema Maghqudin, agreed that such guarantees were out of place and that any compensation or "redistribution" of the costs would have to be evaluated in the context of its feasibility, Federation of Industry president Adrian Bajada told The Times.

Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech, who is the regular representative of the government on the council, discussed this point on leaving the meeting, saying that any changes to the surcharge/compensation regime set in the budget would have to be "do-able" and feasible.

Questioned by The Times on this point during the press conference, Mr Zarb said the union had made it clear it wanted a more just system.

Pressed for solutions or alternatives to the present system, Mr Zarb reiterated the union's request: "We just want the government to cushion the weight for the workers".

He said the union would go ahead with its planned industrial action, which started yesterday with a general work-to-rule directive. A protest will be held on December 15 in Paola. "Now it's up to the government," Mr Zarb warned again.

Asked about the failed sale of Sea Malta, Mr Zarb said the union would be issuing its position today. Asked why it did not have a position yesterday, Mr Zarb laughed off the question saying: "We were busy".