Malta’s biggest union has backed a proposal to require private firms to make their pay structures public.

In a statement on Tuesday, the General Workers’ Union said that it was in favour of pay transparency provisions.

First discussed at a European level, the plans would require companies to disclose their salary structures and in some cases undergo audits to ensure they are not discriminating between employees in terms of wages. 

Equality Minister Edward Zammit Lewis has said he is broadly in favour of improving pay transparency laws locally.

On Tuesday, the GWU said it was also favourably inclined. Such provisions, it said, would help add stability to the labour market and expose abusing employers who underpaid their workers.

Many workers were often unaware of what they should be paid and some employers took advantage of the situation, the union said.

In some cases, two workers doing the same job which was subject to a collective agreement would end up being paid differently, it added.

“We cannot have employers who are opposed to their workers being unionised while at the same time breaching laws about equal pay and gender discrimination”.

“Now that the economy is growing, it is time that some past discriminatory and abusive practices are done away with once and for all,” the union said.

“Competition should be on the basis of efficiency rather than a race to the bottom for wages,” it added.