Malta participates in European industrial relations project

Malta, with four EU accession countries - Estonia, Hungary, Poland and Slovenia - is participating in a project entitled "The Role of Social Dialogue in the Preparation for EMU in the Candidate Countries" which is being carried out jointly between the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions and the Swedish Work Life and EU Enlargement Project.

As part of the project each country was asked to draft a development plan that sets out its economic situation and the industrial relations scenario. The plan for Malta drafted by Professor Edward Zammit was discussed on October 21 at the ETC's main hall in Hal-Far.

Present for the seminar were European Foundation officials and high-level representatives of the local major trade unions, employers' associations, Government departments of women's issues, social security, employment and industrial relations, and other labour market organisations.

Participants discussed the obstacles encountered in social dialogue in Malta and agreed that: the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) should be strengthened and better resourced; the MCESD should also provide a forum for bipartite dialogue between employers and employees' representatives; and a supportive framework for social dialogue be created to provide systematic monitoring and evaluation of bi- and tri-partite social dialogue in Malta.

As a follow-up to the seminar an action plan to implement the proposals agreed during the seminar and presented in the development plan will be launched in the coming year.