Editorial

Malta is living a contradiction. All are agreed that the number one challenge is for the island to create new jobs. So, it is only reasonable to expect that in such circumstances all forces in the island would pull at the same rope and see what can be done so that new jobs can be created. But what is only reasonable to expect does not seem to figure quite rightly in the scheme of things of all who have a say in bringing about the necessary change needed to help generate new jobs and boost the economy.

People are coming to learn by heart the attitudes certain organisations adopt when confronted with planned changes. When the General Workers' Union started beating the drums over the government's plan to remove the time off in lieu for holidays falling over the weekend, few doubted what the next course of action was going to be. The country has been through such displays of high spirits before.

In no time the government is going to be presented as if it is an administration that is intent on trampling on the workers' rights without blinking an eyelid. All the country's needs and expectations and all the exhortations for the government to take steps in the effort to generate new jobs will be completely forgotten as the government will be painted in the darkest colours possible.

The GWU says it prefers a solution to a conflict. Is there anyone in Malta today who thinks that the island can afford industrial unrest? If we really mean what we say, if the country so badly needs to generate new growth, as we most assuredly do, and urgently so, how can we begin to start talking about industrial unrest and conflicts again?

In the face of the problems facing the country, the differences we are talking about today all seem so out of tune with the reality of the situation. Is The Times saying then that the government ought to come out dictating to all and sundry the steps that need to be taken to set the ball rolling? Of course not, and it would be a mistake on the government's part to act unwisely.

But then how are we going to make headway? Talk that the budget measures favoured only the employers is only meant to politically appease those who have closed both eyes to the urgent need for change in the drive to make the island competitive again.

Will blaming the administration for the situation the island finds itself today go anywhere near to solving the problem? And, to be fair, is it only this administration that is to blame for the economic bumps we have come up against? Are the trade unions altogether free of any blame?

If they were to put their hands on the heart, would they not find instances when through their action, or inaction, they might have perpetrated outdated work practices?

Is the Labour Party free of all blame? Hardly.

And do employers not have anything to answer for?

What, then, is to be done? One logical way out is for the social partners to go back to the negotiating table of the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development and complete, within a day or two, not more, the exercise they had left unfinished before the presentation of the budget. This would be a most sensible step forward, one that needs to be taken in the interest of all.