Activists came together on Wednesday to make seven demands to improve the conditions of workers.

The campaign document, ‘Justice for Workers’ was launched on Workers' Day  by 14 organisations including NGOs Moviment Graffitti, aditus foundation and several students and workers unions.

It outlines what the groups call the unjust situation workers face locally, from being unable to make a living on a minimum wage, to facing exploitation.

They said workers are not machines, and that Malta's growing economy now depends on cheap foreign labour, with wages remaining low and exploitation increasing.

What is the campaign calling for? 

1. Revising wages at the bottom of the salary hierarchy and raising the minimum wage;
2. Upgrade working conditions for all workers through mandatory work-life balance measures, including a shorter working week and more paid maternity, paternity and parental and caring leave;
3. Revising Malta's employment laws to address new exploitative realities;
4. Ensuring one public entity is responsible for following up on reports of workers' abuse and taking effective action against them;
5. Remove administrative measures that are placing migrant workers at the mercy of their employers. All workers should have equal access in practice to effective remedies against abuse;
6. Introduce regulations on rent prices and prices of necessities;
7. Promote workers' participation in decision making.

Addressing a news conference in front of the monument of socialist Manwel Dimech in Castille Square, Matthew Borg from Alleanza Kontra l-Faqar (Alliance Against Poverty) spoke about people not managing to make it to the end of the month on minimum wage.

Gabriel Apap from trade union Solidarjetà claimed young people are moving abroad because wages are higher and cost of living is lower than in Malta. 

Activist Yana Mintoff Bland said it was a "great irony" that the measure of our country’s success is by Gross Domestic Product, with no reference to the workers who create this product.

Yana Mintoff Bland said many workers cannot make it to the end of the month on a minimum wage. Photo: Jonathan Borg

"That is why our aim for these demands is for a new economic model that puts workers at the centre and to make sure these workers have a voice that is heard both in the workplace and in our political structures.”

Mintoff Band also thanked those women who face discrimination in the workplace and face a wage gap or lack of opportunities. 

“While we have seen that over the years, more women are entering the workplace and provided more opportunities, it is still normal that female workers are not treated equally when it comes to wage, conditions and promotions,” she said.

According to recent statistics, women earn €158 less than men per month. 

‘Every month we hear of a worker being hurt or dying’

Mintoff Bland also spoke about workers who work in dangerous conditions, such as construction or road works, and how they suffer in silence.

“Every month, you hear that a stranger has been injured or died (at the workplace), without any dignity, because often we don’t know their name, and we never find out who was responsible for what went wrong.”

According to official statistics, more than half of all workplace deaths in 2022 and 2023 were related to the construction industry. 

Last month, Bari Balla, a father of six, died when the roof of a 1920s house in Sliema collapsed.

"Foreign workers suffer from many challenges in addition to the greater health and safety risks," she said, adding that they suffer from a higher risk of poverty because they receive below minimum wage and sometimes no wage. She said foreign workers also suffer from racism and are exploited to work longer hours. 

The fourteen organisations who signed the document were:

• Aditus Foundation;
• Alleanza Kontra l-Faqar;
• Betapsi;
• Blue Door Education;
• Dance Beyond Borders;
• Earth Systems Association;
• Jesuit Refugee Service;
• Justice and Peace Commission;
• Kunsill Nazzjonali taż-Żgħażagħ (KNŻ);
• Kunsill Studenti Universitarji (KSU);
• Moviment Graffitti;
• Solidarjeta' – Workers’ and tenants’ union
• Young Progressive Beings (YPB)
• Żgħażagħ Ħaddiema Nsara (ŻĦN)