Employers urge government to move on

The Malta Employers' Association has urged the government to implement the necessary measures to improve Malta's competitiveness in order to generate productive employment.

The failure of the social partners to agree on a social pact does not justify the status quo, it said.

The MEA insisted that in the absence of consensus, the government was obliged to weigh the different opinions and recommendations and decide on a package that addressed the problems facing the economy concretely.

"Debating who was to blame for the inability to reach consensus at MCESD was a waste of time. The result is what it is and it is time to move ahead," the MEA said.

It was evident from the start of the talks at MCESD that consensus was a remote possibility, it said. The MEA said it had expressed this opinion when it issued its proposals in its document Generating Productive Employment - A National Priority.

In this document, the MEA had explicitly stated that even in the absence of consensus leading to a social pact, the problems facing the economy remained and had to be addressed just the same.

All the organisations present within the MCESD did their utmost to reach consensus but it was clear that there were differences of opinion on crucial issues between unions, employers and the government that were irreconcilable, the association said.

However, employer bodies clearly expressed agreement over the draft package that was forwarded by the MCESD chairman, which was also agreed to by the government side.

It was now up to the government to act if it believed that the contents of that package would safeguard employment and would be conducive to attract more foreign investment to Malta, it said.