GWU says it is ready to discuss pensions

The government cannot increase the burden on workers to solve problems connected to the pensions system, the General Workers' Union's general secretary, Tony Zarb, said yesterday.

Mr Zarb accused the government of making the problem worse instead of trying to solve it, adding that those saying that pensions would remain the same were not speaking the truth. A World Bank report, he said, clearly showed that things would change - for the worse.

Speaking during a meeting for pensioners at the GWU headquarters, in Valletta, Mr Zarb said that while today the government was responsible for pensions, this responsibility would partly shift onto the private sector with the introduction of private pensions.

He said that during meetings with foreign counterparts the union was told of "big difficulties" which workers and their families had to go through when companies offering private pension systems went bankrupt, with families ending up on the street.

Mr Zarb said changes in the pensions scheme recommended in the report included raising the number of years a person would have contributed from 30 to 35, apart from taking the pensionable age up from 61 to 65.

Another proposal was to calculate the pension on the average income of the last 10 years instead of the average of the best three years of the last decade that a person had worked, as it stands at present.

"The government is making the problem worse instead of trying to solve it," he said, adding that if the pensionable age was raised this would make it more difficult for young people to find a job. "And who will guarantee to these young people they will get a pension when they reach 65 if they are on a private pension," he asked.

The union, he said, was ready to discuss the issue with the government in a bid to reach an agreement. However, this had to take place through consensus and not imposition and arrogance. "Arrogance is increasing daily in this country," he said.

Referring to Public Investments Minister Austin Gatt's warning that if the Malta Shipyards did not achieve its final targets it would be closed down, Mr Zarb said: "Try, and we will see." Such threats had to stop, he said. He said one could not accept a "bulldozer" threatening to close places down.

He accused the government of scaring away investment, referring to an American company, ITS, that lost interest in investing in Malta after it was kept waiting for answers for 12 months. Instead it decided to invest in Germany. He asked: "Can we afford the luxury of scaring away such investment?" Other investors were also giving up on Malta, he said.